Ripples in the Stream
by DaughterofRomulus
Summary: A sequel to Double-Edged Sword.
1. Foreword

**Ripples in the Stream**

**- Foreword -**

This story is primarily written in the third person perspective; there may be a scene or two written in the first person perspective. First person, if I choose to write in it will always be in **bold. **

- **A note on the glossary -**

There will be a glossary at the end of the final chapter for any Romulan words that are used throughout the story. I know that some people prefer the instant definitions for words as they come up in the story, even find them helpful in the spur of the moment reading, but I honestly think placing instant definitions just makes the whole thing look sloppy.

- **Warnings -**

1. Some chapters may contain abrasive language.

2. There will be a discipline scenario in a later chapter that will entail the spanking of a sixteen year old girl.

- **Other notes -**

This story is a sequel to last year's project: Double-Edged Sword.

I have a learning disability and am dyslexic. I am also "comma happy." Sometimes there will be grammar errors that I don't happen to catch at first or even second glance. I know my writing is far from perfect, but I do try my best.

This is also a work in progress! I am writing this for NaNoWriMo 2012, which means that it will be a rough work that will need editing later on in its life. It will not be radiating perfection!

If there are any extremely glaring errors please let me know via PM, but don't be a you-know-what about it.

Thank you and enjoy.


	2. Chapter 1

Ripples in the Stream

**What a glorious thing that life has come to be...**

**Ael has been with her new family on Romulus for nearly a year now, everything is falling into place and things are going well. But then one evening her father brings home a comrade for evening meal, a man that Ael never thought she would ever lay her eyes on... a man that she has had a secret crush on ever since she had been nothing more than a human girl on Earth, sometime in the twentieth century. She later discovers that this man's wife has recently died in battle, her heart flutters, wondering if perhaps the two of them... no, it could never be; not when she is only a sixteen year old teenager. Then Q makes an appearance, placing Ael and her crush in ridiculous situation after ridiculous situation, the teenage girl dependant on him to save her life in every instance. When things couldn't get any worse... they do. Q presents her with yet another ultimatum, giving her the chance to be with the man that she has always longed for, but accepting the "gift" will come with a hefty price, one that Ael isn't certain she's willing to pay.**

**Story Rating: PG - 13**

**Written By: Ael t'Illialhae Rhiana**

**Warnings: Will contain the spanking of a 16 year old teenager**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about the Star Trek universe; I merely borrow a character or two from time-to-time.**

Chapter One

"Race you home!"

"Oh you're on!"

A pair of exotic, equine-like creatures bounded forwards at their riders excited commands, the colors of bluish-green and copper-penny blending together as the animals surged side-by-side under a beautifully clear summer's sky, their riders just as eager and quite possibly twice as spirited.

Ael t'Illialhae Rhiana gazed intently between her mare's copper-colored ears, her vision focused on the grassy path ahead that would eventually lead to home, her eyes shifting for the briefest of seconds as she glimpsed her "competitor" that was easily keeping pace beside her, her sister D'elon i-Ra'tleihfi t'Illialhae Ssaedhe. Her sister's kerosh, Mhai, was a spirited animal, the bluish-green mare tossing in a playful buck or two every-now-and-again, D'elon, who was quite used to her animal's playful antics, staying easily rooted to the saddle.

"You don't have a chance, D'elon," Ael yelled playfully, the wind that was rushing around her momentarily stealing her words away from her sister.

D'elon flashed a mischievous grin in response, moving her mare closer as though she might ram the smaller girl and her mount aside, but stopping short of making actual contact. "We'll see, Winged One," she said, crouching low in the saddle and urging Mhai on, the slightly younger mare stretching her long, graceful legs as she bounded ahead of her rival.

"Hey!" Ael responded in kind to the challenge, crouching low and encouraging her mare to pursue the bluish-green hindquarters in front of her. "Come on, girl," she urged, leaning up and speaking into her mount's delicately pointed ears. "You don't want D'elon to show us up, do you? We beat her that one time last month; we can do it again, especially if we take that little shortcut."

With that her own mischievous grin lit her face, Ael and her copper-colored mare quickly disappearing into a grove that the young teenager knew as well as she knew the animal beneath her. She had used this little shortcut of hers quite a few times in the past when racing with D'elon, but usually she frequented it to do little more than relax amongst its beauty. Oh how she loved riding her mare sedately through this lovely place, enjoying the feel of a soft breeze as it wound its way through the trees and over her bare arms, the feel of the sun as it flitted in through the spaces of the fauna, casting its lovely golden light on everything that it touched. Ourai would occasionally stop of her own accord, lowering her head to snatch a bite of the sweet and tender green clover that adorned the grove's floor, the little white blossoms being her favorite to munch on. That time spent with her mare was always a little piece of heaven, so perfect in an otherwise imperfect world.

The thoughts were almost enough to cause Ael to rein in her mare, it would be nice to spend the remainder of the day trapped in this beautiful and pristine place, but such a luxury was not to be had in the moment. Ourai's long stride seemed to eat up the ground as she moved, the tiny little white blossoms that were usually one of her favorite snacks given nary a second thought as she flew over them without so much as a care in the world.

"Come on, baby," she murmured, leaning low against the mare's neck, asking for just a bit more speed if she had it to give. "We can do it. Just you and me." With a snort and a head shake of approval Ourai switched gears from fast to even faster, Ael forced to grab a handful of her snowy-colored mane to keep her seat in the saddle. Within moments the end of the grove loomed ahead, Ael closing her eyes for the briefest of seconds as she concentrated on the feeling of freedom that came whenever she was astride her mare. Ael could almost feel Ourai's heartbeat as her legs clamped tightly to the mare's sleek sides, the organ strong as it provided what seemed to be endless energy and spirit. She could feel the strength in her mare as she ran, carrying them effortlessly over the grass, limitless power and yet fluid grace and beauty in her motions and stride. She could hear the mare's breath puffing, could send her desire to be the victor!

"Go, Ourai!" Ael kneaded her closes fists along the mares neck as though she were astride a powerful racehorse, urging for that last bit of speed as they raced towards the finish line, in this case… home. Mare and teen burst from the grove, D'elon slightly surprised, not by where her sister and her kerosh had suddenly appeared from, no, she knew about that little trick, but the way that they were currently surging ahead and towards the pasture fence… The desire to win was definitely strong in Ael today, but D'elon was going to make her earn that victory!

"I don't think so!" Ael yelled into the wind as Mhai began to edge closer. "Today, D'elon, Ourai and I win!" Four pairs of hooves thundered over the grass, Ourai maintaining her lead as she stretched her neck low, Ael feeding the reins through her fingers to allow the mare her head, but still keeping adequate control in the moment. She wasn't going to lose to D'elon, not again! The pasture fence loomed just ahead, Ael aiming Ourai directly towards it even though she knew how her father felt about her jumping when she wasn't wearing protective head gear. At the last possible moment Ael fed the reins up her mount's neck, rising up in the saddle and keeping her legs tightly clamped against the mare's sides as she rocked back on her haunches and leaped into the air and over the fence.

The landing was a moderately gentle one, Ael slowing her mount once they were inside the confines of the main pasture. She'd done it; actually beaten her sister in a race home and the second time in a month at that! Oh she wasn't sure why victory always tasted so sweet, especially over what some might consider to be miniscule in nature, but it was still a nice feeling all the same.

"I won!" Ael announced triumphantly as D'elon angled Mhai beside Ourai, both mares puffing and prancing in response to their run.

"Indeed," D'elon responded, tightening her rein in response to Mhai arching her back as though she might be about to conclude her hearty jaunt with a playful buck. "You can count yourself as fortunate that Father wasn't home to see you make that jump over the perimeter fence."

"You're just mad because I beat you in our race," Ael said, unable to remove the grin from her face, her spirits soaring in the moment.

"Oh I am not," the older girl protested. "Fences and jumps aside… you and Ourai ran quite the race, and I look forwards to our next one. Now however, we need to give these two hardworking mares a lengthy cool down."

"Definitely. And I plan to give Ourai a bit of a sponge bath once she's cooler. She loves her baths in the summertime, don't you?" Ourai bobbed her head and snorted as if in response to the query, Ael patting the mare on her sweaty neck before dismounting and loosening the saddle's girth, helping the mare to be more comfortable and relaxed while her owner led her around the pasture at a sedate walk.

The two girls chatted easily about their day while they walked around the pasture, Ael halting by the water trough to allow Ourai a swallow or two of slightly warm water before continuing to walk her.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes had elapsed… "Okay, D'elon, she's cool enough to bathe now," Ael commented, leading her mare through the gate at the bottom of the pasture and into the yard, moving her down to where a bucket of warm water was waiting to be used. It was always a good idea in the hotter summer months to leave a bucket of water in the sun before going on a particularly hard ride, Ael knew, because cold water could cause the animal to go into shock if it was suddenly splashed over still hot skin, likewise drinking the same type of water after a workout, cold, could induce a crippling or fatal bout of colic.

"No chance of that happening on my watch," Ael promised Ourai, swiftly going through the motions of unsaddling her mare, placing her equipment on the fence for the time being, the kerosh snorting in apparent relief to the sweaty saddle being removed from her broad back. "Now let's get you cleaned up and comfortable, I'm sure you want to rejoin your friends in the pasture, hmm?"

Another soft snort met her ears, Ael giggling in response as she began to sponge the water over Ourai's body, beginning with her face since that was what she seemed to always prefer. Ael crooned softly to her mare as she worked the wet sponge over the narrow muzzle and up to the broad forehead and over the set of pointed ears. Next came her chest and broad back, the sunlight dancing across the honey-colored dapples across the mare's hindquarters, glistening brightly on the droplets of water that had settled there. Slowly Ael worked the sponge down Ourai's finely-boned, striped legs, feeling for heat or swelling and smiling when she found none.

"Feeling better?" Ael asked, offering the bucket of water to Ourai and allowing her more than one or two small swallows of water. "Thought so. I will bring you a treat later; I have some fresh lesidu melon hiding in the cooler just for the two of us."

"You spoil her far too much," D'elon said though she was smiling, leading Mhai past her sister and back to the pasture.

"Yeah, like you don't spoil Mhai!" she retorted, chuckling. "I see you slipping her hard candy almost every day."

"Touché, Winged One," D'elon said, allowing the gate to hang open so that Ael could walk through with Ourai, the mare ambling along just behind her owner with her muzzle touching the top of her shoulder. "Ourai is just like a common house pet, follows you everywhere and without complaint. She would probably attempt to follow you into the house if you held the door open for her."

Ael laughed at the mental image that her sister's words produced. Her father's reaction to a kerosh inside the house would be beyond hysterical, well, until he yelled at her that was! "I think we'll leave her outside."

"Indeed."

"I'll be back after dinner," Ael promised, dropping a kiss on the end of Ourai's muzzle before turning away to head back into the house. "I think I'm ready for my own bath now," she said, spreading her arms and staring down at her body, her clothing currently rumpled and wet from both sweat and water. There was also the smell of kerosh that was all over her, not that she minded, but the rest of the family might… especially at the dinner table!

"We could both use a shower and change of clothing. I will see you at the dinner table shortly, Ael. And again, congratulations on winning our little race." She smirked. "It might not happen again, so enjoy the victory while you can." After one last playful nudge the girls parted ways, each returning to their room to bathe and don fresh clothing before it was time for evening meal.

"Mmm, something smells good," Ael commented on her way through the house and to her room, her stomach rumbling in response, the youth ignoring it as she let herself into her bedroom and headed for the washroom. Her bath was soon running, Ael rummaging through the vanity drawer and extracting a pouch of lightly-scented bath salts, the addition of them to the running water quickly changing the hue from pristine and clear, to a lovely shade of light lavender.

_This is going to be nice,_ she thought, quickly ridding her body of her soiled and smelly clothing, kicking them into the far corner for the time being and then turning off the flow of water, inhaling happily as she stroked her fingers through the water to test the temperature, which was just right. Ael stepped into the warm bath and allowed her body to sink slowly into the water until she was up to her ears in the delicately scented pool of comforting warmth, her eyes closing in contentment as a soft sigh escaped her. It was another perfect end to yet another perfect day, and she sent up a silent prayer to the Elements, thanking them for her wonderful family.

_I suppose I should be thanking Q_, she suddenly thought, though she quickly dismissed it. He was the last person that she ever wanted to think about! Even though the omnipotent entity had severely interfered in both her and Movar's lives nearly a year ago to the day, Ael knew that he had no influence over the way her family behaved on a day-to-day basis.

"The last thing I need to do is to start thinking about that omnipotent pain in the butt," Ael commented somewhat dryly. "No need to ruin the ending of an awesome day."

And so her thoughts changed, shifting away from Q and settling on what might be for evening meal instead. She had smelled something positively delightful wafting in from the kitchen on her way through the home and into her room for her soak, and she thought that she'd glimpsed the crimson table covering being whisked into the main dining room by one of the servants, both of those things alerting her to the fact that dinner was going to be something special. The occasions were somewhat rare, but there were times when her father would bring someone home for dinner, usually some big-deal military so-and-so that he was working with, though a time or two had seen a prestigious member of the Imperial Senate striding through their front doors for a very fancy meal.

"It smells like hlai'vna," she mused aloud, a small puddle of drool beginning to collect in the corner of her mouth, the thought of wild hlai steaks that were perfectly seasoned with the best herbs in the province causing her to finish her soak a little sooner than expected. Her family may have been very well off, but they generally only dined on very special things during one of the holiday seasons or… when someone special was due to be joining them at the dinner table.

"I wonder who Daddy is bringing home tonight… I wonder if it's some big-deal senator or something… Hmm… As long as it's not another commander-general! The last one of those he brought home was a real piece of…work. Yeah, that's it." Ael chuckled to herself as she finished up her bath, washing her hair with her favorite floral-scented shampoo before she grabbed a pinkish colored bar of soap from the soap dish, the sweet smell momentarily causing her to crave a piece of candy.

"Not to worry, self," she said, draining the tub and stepping out of the tub, wrapping her body in a soft towel that sat nearby. "If there really is a big deal somebody coming by for last meal, then there will be plenty of desserts after the main course." Now those thoughts were worth salivating over! Ael's sweet tooth was tingling as she dried and dressed, selecting one of her nicer dresses from her wardrobe, a green and black ensemble that she had been drawn to from the first time that she had spied it in a specialty shop's window in the heart of the city.

A dress made of soft, breathable (but still very fine) material was held up and against her body for quick inspection, Ael nodding her head once as she smiled. She slipped the dress on, taking care not to produce any wrinkles in the fabric by pulling it on a little too quickly, a beautiful emerald-colored skirt falling down around her legs to stop at mid-calf. The upper portion of her favored dress carried the appearance of a vest, cobalt-black in color with matching buttons up the front of it. Ael completed the outfit with a pair of black sandals and a black choker, running a brush through her still-damp (and slightly disheveled) mess of copper-colored hair before tying it back in a ponytail and then hurrying to the other side of the room to make certain that she looked presentable.

"Perfect," she said, appraising her reflection in her full-length mirror, smiling in response to the way the dress fell around her, hugging every little curve of her blossoming teenage form just the way that it should. The color might have been a bit dark for the summer months, but the light, breathable material coupled with the dress being sleeveless made for a very comfortable wear around the home, even when it had to be pushing forty degrees centigrade outside. Her choice of minimal accessories, her choker, complimented her outfit without going too far in the process. She wasn't exactly overly-fond of excess trappings or "bling," as humans used to say, all she cared about for the most part was comfort. As she stared at her reflection Ael furrowed her brow, something was missing…

"A-ha!" With that, Ael hurried away to extract a snowy white sash out of her middle bureau drawer, tying it expertly around her waist before once again turning towards the mirror, adjusting the folds of fabric so that her family's crest was visible to anyone and everyone. "_Now_ it's perfect," she declared happily, nodding in approval. "Well, I certainly think so. Oh!" The sound of an approaching flitter quickly captured Ael's attention, pulling her away from the mirror and sending her scurrying towards the bedroom door. The sound of an approaching flitter at this time of day meant only one thing to the young teen: "Daddy's home!"

This was the time of day that she always looked forwards to the very most, Ael quickly making it out into the main entryway of the home, continuing to head towards the front door until… until she heard two pairs of boots echoing on the pavement as two people approached the home. Ahh, so her father was bringing someone home after all!

"I think I'll have a little look-see first," she said, moving away from the front corridor and over to the sitting room, hiding herself away just behind the entryway. "Now I can see exactly who's here before I just go running up with an enthusiastic greeting! I know the real high-and-mighty types of people don't seem to like seeing a child greet their father with delight…they'd rather I was afraid of him," she mumbled, shaking her head. The thought was quickly forgotten as the front door began to open, Ael holding her breath as she peeked around the corner in anxious wonder.

And then a voice reached her ears, causing her to tilt her head in slight puzzlement. That voice… it sounded familiar somehow. The strange-yet-familiar voice grew silent, her father's deeper and more commanding voice filling the front corridor as he spoke. Ael was beside herself without curiousness as she willed her father and the stranger to move closer to the sitting room, she had to see who it was that was with him!

A moment later and she got her wish, her breath catching in her throat as she glimpsed the figure of a very familiar man, one that she had never expected to see in her life.

_No possible way_!

Blood-green eyes that were wide and unblinking stared straight ahead, gazing upon the form of a tall, handsome, and _very_ familiar Romulan commander that had just stepped through the front door of her home. Ael kept her wide-eyed stare upon the man as he began to move forwards alongside her father, her eyes drinking in every last detail of the familiar Romulan as his form drew closer to the corner that she dared to peek around. That purposeful step…the broad shoulders...the pair of dark, chocolate colored eyes that made her shiver every time that she dared attempt to gaze into them… And that wonderfully soft, alluring voice that had the smallest hint of sternness etched within, forcing her knees to weaken and her palms to sweat in anxious giddiness.

_Commander Tomalak…_

"Ael." At the sound of her father's voice Ael jumped away from the corner that she had just been peeking around, her heart racing as she attempted to control her sudden overwhelming emotions.

_I think he wants to introduce me,_ something in the forefront of her mind said, Ael pressing a hand to her chest as though the motion would calm her suddenly tattooing heart. When her name was called again Ael dared to step around the corner and into view, but not before she took a moment to make certain that her hair was perfect, including allowing a few stray tendrils to fall around her face. Her gaze was instantly on Tomalak, her cheeks mottled bronze in her sudden giddiness, her palms slick with sweat as she held them clasped together in front of her on her walk to where her father and Tomalak stood.

"Welcome home, Daddy," Ael said brightly, attempting to keep her voice from shaking as she greeted her father with a quick embrace, her focus momentarily pulled away from Tomalak, though only just. "Did you have a good day?"

"It was quite productive," Movar answered, gently stroking a hand over his daughter's hair, quick to notice that her attention was wandering back to the man that stood mere inches away from her. Movar could easily recall the conversation from nearly a year ago, when he and Ael were seated in his quarters just before her bedtime, the young lady having asked question after question concerning not only the home world, but also about Tomalak. He could remember the smitten look in her eyes, the giddy smile on her face, the anxious shivering, the lightly flushed cheeks and neck, the breathy tone that encompassed her voice when she had posed her questions… Come to think of it, she had the majority of those qualities at this very moment.

"So…um…who's this?" she inquired, her voice finally beginning to betray her.

_You know very well who this is, my winged one_, Movar thought, Ael grinning sheepishly when she caught his expression. She should have known better than to think that her father would have forgotten about her little obsession with the Romulan commander, who was now less than a foot away from her. "This is Commander Tomalak," he said, Ael stepping forwards by two steps and bowing her head respectfully. "Commander, this is my second youngest daughter, Ael."

"I-it is a pleasure, Commander," Ael stammered, her cheeks burning with desire as she straightened her posture, staring directly into a set of dark brown eyes that reminded her of liquid chocolate. _Air and Fire; he is so handsome._ Silently she wished that Romulans shared the same tradition as humans when it came to meeting someone new, offering their hand instead of a polite bow of the head. Even though she was only (barely) sixteen years old, still very much a child by Romulan society's standards, Ael wished that she could feel his touch even if it only came in the form of a handshake.

Tomalak acknowledged Ael with a slight nod of his head, his scrutinizing stare appraising her, seeking to understand why she was staring at him in the way that she was. Why if he didn't know better he would think that this young thing was giving him llurha-eyes; that she was attracted to him, someone that she had never met before this moment. She definitely wasn't the first teenage girl to stare at a man like himself, one of wealth and power with a passionate-longing in her eyes, and she undoubtedly wouldn't be the last. This girl was also the daughter of a very powerful and feared Romulan general, so a polite response to her was no doubt expected.

"It is indeed a pleasure," he responded, Ael flushing further in her giddiness, a deep bronzy-green coloring not only her cheeks, but also flooding her neck and ears with prominent color.

_I'm going to have a meltdown of some sort if I stay this close to him,_ she thought, forcing her feet to take her backwards by a few tiny steps. No, that wasn't going to do it. "It is an honor, sir," she said, attempting to discreetly shake her head to clear the sudden fuzziness and stars that were beginning to swim before her eyes before she turned towards her father. "Daddy, do I have time to go check on Ourai before evening meal?" She had to busy herself with something else before she lost her mind! "I need to…make sure that she got fed. I swear that I won't get dirty in the process, I just need to…ahh…check on her." _That sounded lame… but even so I think he understands!_

"Yes, my winged one, there is time. I want you back inside in half an hour all right?"

"I promise," she said, flashing one last giddy, girlish grin at Tomalak before she turned on her heel and hurried away as fast as she could without being rude in the process. Only when she had rounded the corner of the hallway did Ael allow her feet to carry her forwards much more quickly than before, her stride soon lengthening into a run as she made her way through the home and then outside, refusing to slow her pace until she reached the kerosh pastures.

"Oh my God!" she squealed, blurting out the human expression that she used to so frequently use in times of great and overwhelming surprise. Three pairs of delicately pointed, equine-like ears perked straight up in response to Ael's giddy squeal of delight, but another pair, thankfully belonging to a stallion in a separate pasture, were flattened back in agitation, a snort and hoof stomp following shortly after. "Oh cool it, Kalabam," Ael tossed over her shoulder at the sandy-colored stud that was now beginning to prance up and down the perimeter of his enclosure.

The kerosh in question was her father's, the young stud shying away from loud noises, as most tended to do, Ael having forgotten in her hasty sprint to the pastures. But Kalabam… he not only shied away from sudden annoyances, he also became downright agitated in response, attempting to get to the disturbance of his peace by prancing near the fence and snorting and stamping at what he considered to be appropriate intervals. At least the other three kerosh seemed content to forgive her momentary lapse in judgment, all three content to return to grazing on the sweet greenish-blue grass at their hooves, until Ael called one of them out by name.

"Ourai, you are not going to believe this. Seriously!" she said, attempting to keep her excitement down to a dull roar. It was so difficult! Upon hearing her name Ourai lifted her head and ambled over to her owner, whickering hopefully and stretching her narrow muzzle forwards to snuffle the girl's outstretched hand, searching for a treat that currently did not exist. "I didn't bring you any lesidu melon, girl, sorry," she said, lovingly stroking her hand along the mare's forehead and ruffling her long forelock. "After last meal I'll see what I can sneak out to you, okay?"

Snorting, Ourai nudged Ael with her broad forehead, content to allow the girl to pet her for several moments before returning to graze. "You eat, I'll talk," Ael began again, clasping her hands together and grinning broadly from ear-to-ear as she momentarily stared past her mare and into nothingness. "You will never believe who is inside the house right now, Ourai. Hell… I don't even believe it and I saw him standing right there like… a few inches away from me! I could have reached out and touched him, but I suppose that would have seemed a bit weird… maybe… I still can't believe that Commander Tomalak is inside my house! Well, it's really Daddy's house, but still! You know what I mean!"

When stressed or overly-excited Ael was prone to fits of incessant babbling, and this time was certainly no exception to that rule, her words beginning to make less and less sense the more that she spoke. Thankfully Ourai was content to simply "listen" as she grazed near, Ael didn't need to worry about making terribly much sense when she was out here with the kerosh, it was the one thing she loved the most about being with them whenever something had her at an emotional high or low.

"As soon as I saw him, Ourai, I felt my breath catch in my throat, and I think I really understand what some people mean when they say that their heart skipped a beat, because I think mine did! All I could do was peek around the corner and stare at him with this wide-eyed, I-can't-believe-you're-really-real expression on my face. I stared at him until Daddy noticed me doing it, and then he called me over to him so that he could introduce me!" Once again her voice was beginning to raise excitedly, Ael catching herself before she accidentally caused the animals around her to startle.

"Sorry, girl," Ael said soothingly, stroking the mare's soft neck even though she hadn't exactly been startled. "Anyways, I started out by saying, very nonchalantly: Who is this? Daddy didn't buy it. The look on his face clearly said: 'You know exactly who this is, Ael.' And then I started flushing, giving Tomalak a doe-eyed look that I think really confused him. Then we made out introductions and I "escaped" out here to be with you."

Sighing, Ael gazed back towards the house, the lights in the sitting room shining brightly even though twilight was only just beginning, the sky already starting to turn a beautiful shade of golden red. She continued staring towards the house, certain that she saw movement within the large sitting room, knowing full well that her once-written husband and lover was so close to her yet so very far away.

Unreachable.

"I would give anything to be able to go to him," she murmured, her fingers trailing through the silken, snow-colored mane. "I used to think that if I ever saw Tomalak face-to-face that it would be the whole "love at first sight" sort of thing, but that was just a girlish fantasy I suppose. Besides," she continued, absently beginning to braid the section of mane that she had so recently been stroking her fingers through, "he's already married. And once a Romulan is mated… it is for life. Nothing can break or destroy a marriage bond, and then there's the fact that he also has children, one of them already old enough to be a sub-commander in the Imperial Star Navy. Even if he were unattached…"

She paused in her speech, her emerald-green eyes staring down at what she could see of her body. "I'm just barely sixteen, I'm still a child by this society's standards, to someone like Tomalak I'm probably just a baby, someone that barely knows the ways of this world much less her place within it. On one hand this doesn't seem fair, but on another I was already given the gift of being allowed to stay with the general and become a part of his family. Most people don't get a second chance, Ourai, but I did and I guess… I should really be grateful for that chance instead of suddenly pining away for a love that can never be."

There was little left to be said in the moment, Ael content to relax against her mare with her eyes half closed and her mind wandering a million light years away, so blissfully lost in a sea of wonderful thoughts, fantasies and what-if's that she almost missed an "old friends" sudden arrival.

Then again, that blindingly bright flash of pure white was damned difficult to miss!

_Q!_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"This is the last thing I need," she whispered to Ourai, the mare snorting and stamping her right fore in response to the sudden, very random appearance of a stranger in her pasture.

"Oh now that wounds me," she heard him say.

"Oh for the love of…" She turned towards the sound of what was to likely be more unwanted interference within her life, she was certain that it had to be so, it was Q after all. "So, Q, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, Q's "hurt" demeanor dramatically changing to one that was a hint more mischievous, in other words…his usual.

"Now that's more like it," he said, strolling over to where Ael stood next to her mare. "This is certainly an interesting creature. What do you call it? Reminds me of those… little pony things that you used to be interested in."

"She's a kerosh," Ael said shortly. She really didn't have time for this! "Can we skip the usual pleasantries and cut right to the chase?"

"Why whatever do you mean?" he asked, once again feigning an emotional state, this time, surprise. "Is it really all that strange that I wanted to drop by and check up on you?"

"That is a ridiculous question, Q. Of course it's strange. You never drop by to see anyone without an ulterior motive in that devious, scheming little head of yours."

"I suppose that _is_ true," he said with a confirming head nod.

"So…why are you here? Short and sweet version if you please, I'm due inside for last-meal in like ten minutes."

"Is it not obvious?" With a knowing smirk and the wave of his hand Q – or what Ael knew him to appear as – vanished in a flash of light, the image of a well-known Romulan commander appearing before her instead. "This is why I am here."

"Good Lord, Q… hearing your voice come out of that mouth is terminally creepy," Ael said, shuddering and turning away. Her heart damn well had skipped a beat when Tomalak's person had appeared mere inches away from her, but when Q had spoken… the illusion had been instantly spoiled. "For the love of pie, do you think you could look like the standard you instead of like the… I mean Tomalak?"

"You were going to say "that man that I love,"" Q said, flashing back to his previous appearance. "And that is why I am here, to help you and your love come together as one."

Ael couldn't help it; she burst out laughing, the normally calm Ourai sidling away from both owner and stranger. "Seriously? You are here to bring me together with Tomalak? There's something else up your sleeve, Q, there always is."

"Now why does everyone in the galaxy always assume the worst?"

"You don't exactly have a clean track record, Q. You're a known troublemaker, and the last time that you decided to butt into my life unexpectedly, I was interrogated, tortured, and actually died for about ten minutes."

"Well there's no need to hold a grudge," he said, spreading his arms wide and giving her a smile. "You did get what you have always wished for, and I have popped by a time or two to see how you've been. Your life here is better than you ever could have imagined, is it not?"

"I have a good life now, I won't deny it, but I don't need any further interference in my life, okay? I don't need mischievous games or to be put in harrowing situations that could ultimately get me killed. And besides, Q…" Ael's voice lowered, her eyes suddenly staring past him and into nothingness. "Tomalak is married, remember? His wife is some big deal fleet-commander in the Romulan Star Navy, and together they have several children, I believe I was told five. So unless you can…"

"His wife is dead," Q interrupted his expression suddenly somber, his tone serious.

Ael blinked in surprise. Dead? "What do you mean… dead?" she inquired slowly.

"Surely you know dead," Q responded. "Perished, deceased, no more, passed on, bought the proverbial farm…"

"I get it, Q." After a moment of silent thought Ael's eyes narrowed, a sick feeling in her stomach when a stray thought flew into her mind and then settled there, heavily. "You didn't by chance have something to do with her death, did you?"

"I should leave right now," he declared, folding his arms, the offense far more real than before. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing."

"Cut the crap, Q; everyone in the galaxy knows that you are not above hurting innocent people all for the fun of a little "entertainment," or whatever sick-in-the-head thing you refer to it as. Yes, I may have gotten what I wished for out of our last encounter, but you hurt me in unspeakable ways. I was tortured for days, partially raped at the hands of some low-life centurion, and like I mentioned already…was actually declared dead! And you know…if the general hadn't had any real interest in me at all, I have the very instinctual feeling that you would have left me that way: dead."

"So does this mean that you don't want my help? He's a free man now. Making him yours would be all too easy with my help."

"And now you're back to deviously happy… Free man or not, have you forgotten the fact that I am only sixteen as of last week? Tomalak has to be in his hundreds. That takes the meaning of "robbing the cradle" a bit far, don't you think?"

"That puts you six years younger than you are in your collections of stories; clean and perverted alike," he said, Ael flushing bronze in response.

"Yeah, well twenty-two is different. At that age, Q, I would be a young woman. Tomalak is going to look at me and see a child, a little girl that happens to be the daughter of his superior officer. Even if I were of standard dating age according to this culture, Daddy wouldn't let me just hang on the arm of anyone that catches my eye. He would be very particular about who would be allowed to court me."

"So don't tell him. Problem solved!"

"Okay, you have officially lost it, goodbye now," Ael said, turning on her heel and striding away at a face-paced clip, determined to somehow leave the obnoxious entity and his meddling far behind her.

"I know you don't mean that," he called after her, Ael flashing a rude gesture behind her back that she was certain even Q would understand.

"Oh come now, was that really necessary? I know you want my help, why it is written all over that face of yours. You're quite cute when you're angry, has anyone ever told you that?"

"For the love of Air and Fire, Q, fuck off." And without another word Ael ran the rest of the way to the home, quickly letting herself into the side entrance and breathing a sigh of relief when Q neglected to follow. "I haven't heard or seen the last of him though," she mumbled sourly. "He'll be back; he _always _comes back. For now however…" She paused in the corridor, taking a moment to smooth down her dress. "I have a rather interesting dinner to go to."

…..

_I haven't heard a single word all evening… Not like there hasn't been anything said… I just haven't heard a single word of it. _

After she had originally made her way back into the home after being forced to deal with Q and his nonsense, Ael had hurried to her room to wash her hands and check her hair and her dress, making certain that everything was perfect and precise (at least to her eyes) before striding towards the dining room. The smells that were emanating from the dining hall spurred her into a faster pace, her heart quickening when she caught sight of her father and Tomalak, on their way to the dining hall from the large sitting room only a few meters away.

Ael's pace had increased, slowing only to keep from running headlong into Tomalak, not that she would have minded a great deal about crashing into him…falling into his arms...melting as she gazed into those eyes that were reminiscent of pools of melted chocolate…

The best that she had been able to do was to offer a warm greeting to her father, smiling at Tomalak with a grin of girlish giddiness stretching from ear-to-ear, definitely confusing him though he did greet her with a polite nod of the head. Ael had dawdled before she chose her seat at the dining table, desiring to sit as close to Tomalak as possible, but yet not wanting to draw undue attention to herself in the process. She was certain that the entirety of her family could tell exactly what was going on, whether or not she was actually anywhere near the man!

Ael had chosen to sit across the way and two seats down, far enough away that she wouldn't attract any undue attention yet close enough to where she could still see the man that she had always adored. The dining room had filled quickly, easy conversation beginning to make its way around the table in no time at all, the mood that was set being far less tense than Ael had assumed that it might. The last time that anyone important had come to share a meal, the atmosphere had been ridiculously tense with an air of extreme uncertainty, but on the other hand… there had been that one fleet-commander that had joined the family for dinner on one occasion, the older man content to share story after story as he laughed and regaled the old days to anyone who would listen.

Barely aware that D'elon was curiously watching her every move, Ael stole glance after glance at the man that she had always loved and adored, her hands trembling as she fought to keep from reaching out towards him. Even when the meal began to unfold, the servants bringing forth some of Ael's most favorite foods and delicacies, she simply couldn't keep her concentration from wandering, her sister finally giving her a gentle nudge to secure her attention.

"You have been picking at your food for the majority of the meal," D'elon said quietly. "In fact, you have had that bit of vegetable on your fork for the last five minutes."

"I…oh, right, sorry." Ael quickly put the morsel into her mouth, chewing sedately as her eyes once again began to wander. _I should have sat next to him._

"You have it bad," D'elon whispered, her own eyes drifting towards where the Romulan commander sat, engaged in a rather quiet discussion with their parents. "I don't think I've ever seen you this smitten before."

"I'm not smitten," she protested, unable to keep a straight face while she spoke.

"Right, like I believe that one, Winged One."

"Is she still looking at him?" Ael gazed to her left, her older brother, Galen, talking around her and addressing D'elon who simply nodded in response.

"She hasn't stopped for the duration of the meal. If she had dared to sit closer, she likely would have said something foolish."

"Come on, D'elon, stop," Ael begged softly.

"Ease up, D'elon," Galen said, clapping his younger sister on the shoulder. "Allow her to enjoy the moment; there is no harm in it."

"Have you seen that llura-eyed expression? She's one second away from going over there and giving him a kiss, and I mean a passionate one."

Ael flushed deeply, taking another forkful of food before she said something stupid (and loud) before she could stop herself from doing it. "Leave her be, D'elon. Ael is experiencing what all teenage girl's experience, and don't make me remind you about the time that Father brought one of the Imperial Senate members home for last meal." He raised a single brow as if to make a point, D'elon sighing and nodding her head, relenting for the time being.

"I still say that it is far more than that, dear brother."

"Perhaps," he returned, drinking from his glass and giving his little sister a gentle nudge, causing her to look up at him. "It is perfectly natural and okay for you to look at and admire someone like Commander Tomalak. He has done remarkable things for our Empire, Ael, remarkable things indeed, but you must remember something all right?" She nodded. "He is a man of great status, one that is over ninety years your senior. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Galen," she said softly, releasing a soft and saddened sigh. She didn't need people to tell her what she already knew for herself, nor did she really need to be teased or treated like a naive little child that didn't know a thing about life or anything within it.

"We do not want you hurt is all, little sister. There is plenty of time for you to grow and mature, to find and court someone who is right for you and what will come to be your chosen path. No one within this family unit wants to see you heartbroken from nothing more than a passing infatuation."

"I won't be," she promised, attempting to paste a smile on her face for the duration of the meal, but it was difficult. Not even when one of her favorite desserts was presented on the table, could she bring herself to offer up a genuine smile of happiness.

She actually kind of wished that her father had never brought this man home for dinner.

Ael excused herself shortly after the meal had concluded, the teenager telling her mother that she wasn't feeling well, the girl's melancholy expression worrying the middle-aged woman as she felt her child's forehead, cheeks and neck in search of a possible fever. The scene quickly attracted Movar's attention, and he, too, was momentarily by his daughter's side, easily determining the cause of the problem though she was easily as quick to deny it.

"I think I overdid it while out riding today," she said, coughing slightly.

"Perhaps so. I think you should retire to bed early this evening, my winged one, I know that you have not been sleeping very well as of late."

"I haven't," she readily agreed. "Too many nightmares. I just… don't feel very well tonight." She leaned into her father's open arms, cuddling against him as she closed her eyes over the tears that were beginning to form.

"Come, Ael," Movar said, Ael leaning away from the comforting hug and staring up at him. "I do believe tonight will be an early night for you."

"Yes, Daddy," she said, glancing back over her shoulder at Tomalak as she was gently escorted away from him, and the dining room. There was nothing for Ael to say during the walk to her bedroom, her body sagging somewhat wearily against her father's side as he held her close in silent reassurance. Once in her room Ael selected a nightdress and headed into the bathroom to change, scarcely caring that her good dress was left in a heap on the still damp bathroom floor when she had finished. There wasn't a single word of complaint as she got into bed, her eyes staring blankly at the far wall as her father positioned the blanket over her trembling form. He knew exactly what was wrong with her, and it wasn't simply a day of hard kerosh back riding that had influenced these sudden ill feelings, nor the deeply melancholy expression.

"I understand how you are feeling, Ael," he said, gently stroking his hand over her hair. "I should have given the situation more thought before I brought the commander home this evening. I now see that it was not the wisest of ideas."

"It isn't your fault. You have work to do and things to discuss, my emotions shouldn't have any jurisdiction."

"In this instance, Ael, they do have such."

"I don't want them to," she said defiantly. "Your work is important, Daddy, don't worry about me."

Movar smiled softly at his daughter, reaching down to wipe away a tear that had started to roll down her cheek. "I will worry about, and put you first because you are my daughter and I love you. There are others' within the military that can be assigned to the project that I am a part of."

"That isn't fair to him," she said softly, taking in a shuddering breath. "I'll be okay, Daddy, I promise. I just… didn't expect it to hurt this much, you know? To see him and know that I… that I can't have him. Promise me that you won't remove him from whatever project it is that he is a part of. I'll be able to cope with seeing him sometimes. It just wouldn't be fair to take him off a project because of me. I care about him too much to do something like that to him, you know?"

The tears were beginning to fall more relentlessly now, so Movar resigned to holding his daughter close and allowing her to cry until her body sagged exhaustedly against him, the young teen nearly oblivious when her he gently laid her back in bed.

"Nothing will be decided tonight, Ael," he promised, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead before dimming the lights and striding quietly from the room.

…..

It was late; the clock ticking over to first hour and the start of a new day, most of the home's inhabitants snug in their beds with nothing but good dreams upon them, a certain sixteen year old unable to be counted in the majority. The girl sat on her bed with her legs tucked neatly beneath her, a pair of tired green eyes staring out through her window at the calm summer's night. Everything seemed to be so peaceful, perfectly serene, except for her that was.

She sighed softly and closed her eyes, thinking back to only a few short hours before and how she had been softly begging her father not to remove Tomalak from whatever special project it was that he was currently assigned to. She had been thinking about that for a while now, actually, her body only allowing her to sleep for only two and a half hours before waking her with a dream that she would give anything to forget.

"Still thinking of the commander, are we?"

Ael didn't even have to open her eyes to know exactly who was beside her in the darkness of her room. "I'm not in the mood, Q."

"So I see, but maybe I can help lift your spirits," he said, smiling happily, Ael glaring in response. "What about one of those 'little pony' creatures that you used to be so fond of? That should do the trick," he said brightly, his fingers poised to snap.

"No, Q. I don't want anything… just Tomalak…"

"Then allow me to help you, little one. There _is_ some news that you might be interested in."

This was all just too much! "Will go just go away?" she hissed. "I don't need your brand of "help," Q. And as for news… I don't want to know. Tomalak and I can never be, now bug off!"

Rising from the bed Ael stomped away from Q, letting herself out of her room as she headed in the down the corridor and towards the staircase, making the decision to go to her parent's room for the evening. Q wouldn't dare try anything stupid with her father directly beside her!

_Should I even tell him about Q_? she wondered silently. _Maybe I should keep this to myself for the moment; there is the possibility that Q will get just get bored of me and go bother Captain Picard or something…_

Such an outcome was highly doubtful in her mind, she knew that Q wasn't the type to simply abandon a "mission," or whatever the hell it was that he had deemed interfering in her life once again. Even so, Ael made the conscious decision to keep her father "in the dark" as it were, deciding not to breathe a word about Q's little visit unless things began to go awry.

She reached the staircase in record time, her right foot halting just on the first step when the sound of someone, a very familiar male, chuckling deeply snagged her attention. Perhaps her father wasn't in his room quite yet, so likely her mother was not, either. Ael headed away from the staircase and towards the sound of the chuckling, now talking that she heard coming from the sitting room just down the hall. Slowly she drew closer, peeking around the corner tentatively and smiling when she caught site of Tomalak, as he sat conversing with her father. Obviously nothing bad had happened in response to her earlier onslaught of emotions, and the thought made her smile.

And as he sat there in his military attire, holding a cup of sapphire-colored Romulan ale in his right hand, the expression on his face poised yet arrogant, his posture radiating extreme confidence… As long as he was underneath this roof and in her home, there was no way in heaven or hell that he was ever going to be out of her mind.

_If I wasn't this damned young… I'd let him have me right there on the couch_, she thought, blushing in response. "Now… do I go in there or not," she mused aloud, ducking back around the corner and once again staring down at her current attire. "I may be in a sleeveless nightdress, but it goes to the floor and it isn't anywhere close to sheer." Suddenly the giddy feelings were back, the earlier incident at the dinner table and shortly after, quickly forgotten. Drawing her body to full height Ael took in a deep breath before walking into the sitting room, two pairs of eyes instantly on her form.

"Hi, Daddy," Ael said, doing her best to make her way over to her father's chair without unnecessary detour by Tomalak's. "I couldn't sleep. I was going to go to your room, but then I thought I heard you in here so…" _I really don't think he buys it…even though it's true. Well, most of it. I really need to tell him about Q._

"Are you all right, Ael? Have the night terrors begun again?" he asked gently, Ael shaking her head quickly. Yes, she had always have trouble with night terrors and the like, but they had been getting much better recently, but she supposed that she couldn't blame him for asking, not after the way that she'd fallen to sleep.

_Good grief, Daddy, now Tomalak will never want to have anything to do with me… Night terrors… what am I? Five? Okay, so I suppose I do have them, but still!_

_I thought you said that you didn't want him? _A familiar voice was suddenly in her ear, Ael lightly cringing away from it before she could stop herself.

_I said that I couldn't have him, not that I didn't want him. And stop reading my thoughts, you freak! I thought I told you to go away!_

_Now how could I do that? I do know how badly you desire him, little one._

_I am not your "little one," Q! Yes, I want him! But I cannot have him. You would have to zap me into my fifties at least before Tomalak would even look at me, you know that._

_That is easily done._

A pause.

_I can't. Please… leave me alone!_

"Ael? Easy now, my winged one." Ael was quickly snapped back to the present, suddenly more than acutely aware that she was trembling from head-to-toe, her gaze directed at the far wall though she hadn't actually seen much of anything in the last near minute that Q had been aggravating her. "Come, sit here."

"I'm fine, Daddy," she weakly protested, though she was quick to relax once her small frame was nestled beside him in his chair. Being beside him felt as comforting as it always did, she just wished that Tomalak hadn't been present to see her behaving like nothing more than a little girl who was afraid of the dark, possibly of monsters hidden in her closet and beneath her bed.

"Then why are you trembling?" he inquired gently.

"I'm just…cold," she responded, her voice still a touch meeker than she would have liked it to be. So much for showing Tomalak that she was a cool, confident young lady that was void of fear! Ael could only nod silently when her father reminded her that it was currently in the middle of summer, the young teen uncertain what her next move should be.

_Tell him about Q; right now_! Something in the forefront of her mind demanded. But she couldn't; all she could do was sit quietly with her eyes averted, though she did manage to glance up once and catch Tomalak's steady stare, holding his gaze for the better part of three seconds. _At least he doesn't seem irritated with me and my interruption… I just feel so embarrassed. I should just come right out and say: Daddy, Q is here and is bothering me again. He, for some reason, thinks it's a nice idea to try and fix me up with Tomalak. You know, the man sitting right there whose wife has just died in battle. So why can't I do it? I suppose the last thing that Daddy needs is me telling him that Q is back. I'm sixteen… I can handle that omnipotent numnut. I just wish that Tomalak didn't have to see me like this. Maybe I should say…_

"I'm really sorry, Daddy," she said quietly. "And to you, Commander," she continued, lifting her gaze, her eyes filled with tears even though she didn't want them to be. "I know you were both having an important conversation and I interrupted it."

"There is no need to apologize, my winged one. There was no important conversation in which to interrupt."

"Are you sure?" Movar nodded, further reassuring his daughter by giving her a gentle squeeze. "What were you talking about?"

"We were speaking of past accomplishments and victories," Tomalak said, Ael finding that she was easily calmed by the sound of his voice.

"I wouldn't mind hearing some," Ael said, allowing a smile to work its way back to the surface, her tone suddenly breathy and light, both men in the room noticing immediately.

_You are still very much smitten with the commander_, her father thought. Still, if hearing her crush speak of one of his many victories for the Empire would aid her in relaxing and becoming calm, then Movar was going to allow it and besides, it wasn't as though she was attempting to sit with Tomalak himself.

Tomalak, as he sat nearby was having similar thoughts to his superior, only he was still staring into Ael's eyes and attempting to analyze her current expression. _I have seen that expression many times before,_ he thought. _The soft, liquid llura-eyed stare of a young lady that is easily smitten by the knowledge that one has wealth and power, but this one… This one seems different in that regard, somehow. I will quite likely find out soon enough, as it were. For now, if she wishes to hear me regale her with a victorious tale, then I will allow her the pleasure and privilege of hearing me speak of it. _

It was both a pleasure and a privilege indeed, Ael listening with rapt attention as Tomalak spoke of not only one victory and achievement, but of several, the young lady blushing furiously by the time he had finished regaling her. Oh if she thought that she had wanted him before… she was absolutely on fire for him now, wishing that she could rise from her chair and walk to his, gaze straight into those gorgeous brown eyes and give him the deepest most passionate kiss that he had ever received in all of his years. The way in which he had told the story, the cunning and arrogant etchings to that wonderfully alluring voice of his… Was she sweating? It sure felt like it!

_Why you are simply on fire, dear girl!_ There was that voice again! But this time… this time she didn't bid Q to leave.

_Make him keep talking_, she begged, Q's smirking chuckle filling her ear a moment later.

_I knew you couldn't resist forever, little one. Consider it done._

"Would you care to hear another?"

"Uh-huh," she said, barely able to stop the swoon that threatened to overcome her at any moment. Unfortunately for Ael her father chose that moment to intervene, informing her that it was time for her to return to bed. Oh he knew damn well what was transpiring, that his daughter was past smitten with Commander Tomalak, she was more or less head over heals completely in love with the man, not to mention she was about to fall out of her chair in response to his stories.

_Do you want me to have him change his mind? I can force that, you know… The illustrious commander can regale you with tale after exciting tale for the duration of the night, if you simply ask it._

It was so tempting! _I-I can't. Daddy knows something is going on here. If he says I have to go to bed, then I have to go to bed._

_Spoil sport_, Q grumbled, his disembodied voice once again fading from existence, but Ael ignored the tone, rubbing her eyes and forcing a yawn out into the open to feign her sudden sleepiness.

All too soon and Ael was on her feet, her father agreeing to walk her back to her room with no complaint, Ael forcing him to halt by Tomalak's chair so that she could politely bid him good night.

"It's been a real pleasure, Commander," Ael said, her cheeks flushing again before she could stop them. "I hope that I can hear more of your stories at some point, I really enjoyed hearing them."

"If you like, though you will have to ask your father."

_Gah!_ Ael thought in frustration. _You really do see me as nothing but a child! Elements damn it all straight to…_

"We will see," was all that Movar said, Ael once again tucked lovingly into bed several minutes later, her eyes closing though she found sleep impossible to find again.

The clock had just struck fourth hour when Ael once again slipped out of bed. There was just no use trying to sleep tonight. Quietly she let herself out of her room and into the softly illuminated hallway, her eyes adjusting to the faint glow as she made her way down the corridor, her bare feet making nary a sound as they carried her over the hardwood floors.

"I think I'll go to the sitting room and stare outside for a while," she said aloud. "I'll just stare outside for a while, the view is better than the one from my room anyways." However those thoughts were about to change, and in a rather drastic way.

When Ael stepped into the sitting room her heart stopped, or so it felt like, green eyes widening when she spied Tomalak perched on one of the window seats that overlooked the gardens, his eyes staring up at the silvery moons as they hung in the night sky. He was most certainly transfixed on the sight, the calm, and quietness of the night making him appear to be a far more different person than she knew him to be. Ael knew that the man before her was a very arrogant, opinionated, stubborn, no-nonsense man that always seemed to know that right thing to do and when, not to mention had been victorious in many a great battle, whether he was following in the ranks or leading the charge as a commander to the troops. But now… he kind of looked vulnerable. That's when she remembered what Q had told her earlier on, when he'd made his very first appearance to her.

_Maybe I shouldn't bother him_, she thought, absently gnawing her lower lip as she thought of her next move_. He wouldn't want a child to bother him anyways, especially if he's grieving. _

_Who says he's grieving?_

_Oh for Heaven's sakes! You again? She thought_, her inner voice rising in annoyed, though not terribly surprised response.

_I said I would help you, did I not?_

_I never actually accepted the offer._

_True, but look at him. She did. How often does one witness the great and powerful Commander Tomalak in a vulnerable and open state? _

_That's just it, Q. He's vulnerable right now…or may be, I don't really know. I may feel something for him, may even love him, but that doesn't mean I should waltz right over there and ask him "what's up?" I don't want to take advantage of the situation._

_He really isn't grieving, you know._

_Enlighten me, Q. Dare ya._

_If you insist, little one_. Oh how she hated that term! _Not all Romulans marry for love, you see. Some take a mate purely on the premise of keeping their lineage strong and sure, while others take a mate based on their significant other's wealth and power, some marry for both reasons. _

_So you're saying that Tomalak… he didn't marry for love?_

_Not entirely, no, which is what I was trying to tell you earlier in the evening. _

_Yeah, well… it still doesn't mean that he's going to suddenly fall for me. Come on, Q, not even you have the power to make him fancy me. No magic or whatever it is that you do can truly make someone love another. _

_Perhaps not, but I can help those feelings blossom with a few little tricks. _

_Oh, I know your brand of tricks and I can't say that I am terribly interested. _

_We will soon see. Now, what are you to do? Do you scamper off, back to your room and get back into bed like a good little girl, or do you stride into that room and talk to the one that you have always loved?_

_I'll go on one condition, Q._

_And what might that be, little one._

_That you kindly get lost. Oh, and I hear one more "little one" out of you and so help me the next time you appear to me I'll rip something of yours off. Got me?_

_Certainly a feisty one, aren't you_, he commented dryly, but that was the last Ael heard from Q in the moment, silence once again surrounding her and the night once again still. Standing up tall Ael took a deep breath and then strode into the sitting room, Tomalak unaware of her presence as she moved soundlessly across the floor, only giving her a glance when she was only two meters away.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" she began, clasping her hands in front of her as she stood a meter away, deciding not to sit unless invited to do so.

"If I could sleep, would it not stand to reason that I would currently be doing so?" Tomalak said, his words not at all as harsh as she had been expecting.

"Well…yes, I suppose so." The silence that suddenly began to envelope her was quite awkward indeed, Ael sighing softly as she tried to figure out what she was to say next. Maybe she should have gone back to bed after all. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

"If you wish."

"I know that it's probably none of my business, but what are you thinking about? You just seem a bit… far away is all," she added when Tomalak once again gazed at her, this time with a hint of confusion in his otherwise emotionless eyes. Oh she knew he wasn't the emotionless sort, but she had a feeling that he could damn well hide what he was feeling from most, as well as any highly-disciplined Vulcan could do in the every day.

"I do not think that someone your age would be capable of understanding my situation."

"Try me," she said in immediate response, her tone a bit sassier than it really should have been, Tomalak fixing her with a stare that said he didn't approve. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I just meant that… let me start again. I may be young, but that doesn't mean that am completely inept. I may understand more than you think me capable. I just… want to help is all I suppose."

"All right, young one," he began, Ael leaning forwards ever-so-slightly. He was about to open up, confiding in her! She didn't want to miss a single word out of his mouth! "My current thoughts are settled on the recent passing of my wife, Tellerria."

_You don't seem particularly grief stricken_, she almost said, catching herself in the nick of time before she could blurt out such a rude, heartless handful of words. They may not be the sort of words that would emotionally wound him, but they would likely make him rise to his feet and leave the room without so much as a backward glance. And that was the last thing that she wanted to have happen.

_I-I don't know what to say_, she thought, struggling both not to panic and have Tomalak turn away from her, dismissing her as nothing but a meddling child that didn't have the slightest clue about anything pertaining to real life. Finally… "How long ago did she pass?"

"Two ten-days ago."

"It must be pretty difficult for you, losing a bond mate and all."

"If I may, why are you so interested in my current emotional state?"

Oh God… Now what do I say? "Is it wrong to be concerned about..." _someone that I love_…?

"What were you about to say?" Tomalak suddenly found himself to be insatiably curious in regards to the words that she had quickly swallowed away, and no matter what they were going to be – be it an "I'm smitten with you" or something else entirely – he wanted to know the words that she had been about to speak.

"I'm just concerned about you. Can we just leave it at that, Tomalak?"

"For now," he said, turning back towards the window for several moments before once again turning back towards her. "Now why is it that you are unable to sleep at this hour?"

"Sometimes my mind doesn't like to slow down, especially when something has my full attention. I just have something on my mind that I am having difficulty getting off of it."

Tomalak flashed a soft, rather knowing smile. "Ahh, and I take it that I am that 'something.'"

"Well I, um…" _Oh this is really awkward._

"You would not be the first," he stated calmly, Ael cocking her head in slight confusion.

"The…first?"

"You are not the first, nor likely the last young lady to stare at a prestigious military man, such as myself with such an expression; one that denotes more than a mere case of being lightly smitten."

"I…" How in the world was she supposed to respond to that! It took Ael more then a half minute to regain some sort of composure, startled by what Tomalak had just implied, though truth be told the arrogance of it all made her simply ache for him even more. "It isn't like that, Tomalak, not at all. I don't look at you because you're prestigious with a load of victory medals and citations."

"All right then, my dear, you may enlighten me."

_My dear? I'm going to melt into a puddle of goo right here on this seat! Or I'll simply jump up and plant a big ol' wet one right on his lips. I wonder if he'd mind…_ Those thoughts were all that it took to send her mind a million light years away from her present spot on the window seat, images flashing into the mind's eye that made her smile and flush with happiness. Oh, she could just imagine what it would feel like to be encased in his arms, to snuggle against him with her eyes closed in pure, unadulterated contentment, and for a brief moment she thought about feigning a touch of fear in regards to returning to her room to go back to sleep. If he really saw her as nothing more than a child… maybe a warm, comforting embrace would be suddenly on the table, something that really no adult could deny a frightened girl.

"That is a rather interesting expression," Tomalak said, snapping Ael out of her current set of thoughts, plopping her back in reality far sooner than she was ready for. "Though I believe I know exactly what is on that mind of yours."

"I think I should probably just go back to bed," she said, averting her tear-filled eyes and sighing softly. This had been an absolutely horrible idea! Who had she even been kidding…? "I'm sorry for bothering you, Commander. Please don't tell my father about this." If her father knew… he might bar her from even being in the same room as Tomalak altogether, though she wasn't even all too certain how long he was going to be in their home, anyways.

"You were not a bother, Ael," he said, Ael uncertain whether or not she could actually believe such an admission or not. "If anything, I found the conversation to be intriguing, perhaps even a touch bemusing."

_Bemusing? That isn't exactly a compliment… certainly doesn't make me feel any better_. "As long as I took your mind off other things I suppose," she mumbled, rising to her feet. Elements… did she ever feel like an idiot!

"Before you retire to bed for the second time this evening, do tell me: Why were you so concerned with me and my situation?" Ael noticeably paled, remaining silent. "I know that you had no real desire to make your intentions known, but perhaps you could indulge me with even a hint of insight."

His voice was calm with a hint of curiousness, Ael still uncertain of how to proceed and what she could say that wouldn't make her sound like someone that had completely lost her marbles. She doubted that her father would be terribly impressed if she decided to try and explain not only Q, but also the situation that she had found herself in only a little over a year ago to the day.

"I just worry about everyone," she managed to say, lifting her shoulders in a casual shrug.

"I see. I still have the very instinctual feeling that there is more to it than that."

"There probably is," she responded, refusing to give him more. "But I just don't know how to say it, you probably wouldn't understand."

"I am one hundred and seven years old, Ael, I more than likely would understand more than you assume." That sounded oh so very familiar to Ael's ears, but all she could do was nod and answer simply.

"Probably. Anyways… I should probably go back to bed now and try and sleep. Goodnight."

Tomalak nodded his head once in acknowledgement, turning away from the teenager and back towards the window, a portion of his thoughts remaining on her as she walked quietly away from him.

"That was so stupid," she exclaimed quietly upon entering her room, flopping onto her bed the second that she was close enough. "I made myself look like a complete and total idiot!"

"I suppose that it didn't go as well as all that now did it?"

Ael groaned into her blanket, lifting her head just enough to where she could see Q as he sat perched on the edge of her bed. "No thanks to you," she mumbled, replacing her face back into her blanket.

"Now what did I do?" Q protested in annoyance, folding his arms and staring down at the teenage girl who was now refusing to look at him.

"You kind of encouraged the issue, remember? I wanted to come back to my room, but you had to goad me into going over to him to see if I could help." She sat up, turning to face Q and willing her voice to stay quiet even though she was plenty agitated. "And you know what happened?"

"Of course, I did see the entire thing."

"After I told you to give me some privacy? You really are a… Oh forget it. Tomalak thinks I'm nothing more than a teenage girl who has a crush on a man of status within the mighty Romulan Star Empire. He likely thinks I'm nothing more than a naïve child; a lame excuse for a joke. Q… just leave, and I'm serious this time. If I see you near me again… I'll inform my father of everything. You may be omnipotent or God-like or whatever, but my father commands the best fleet within the Empire itself. Believe me when I tell you that he _will_ find a way to _make_ you leave me alone." She turned away, a look of sadness etching her features as she slowly curled up underneath her blanket. "I just can't deal with this, Q_." Having Tomalak so close to me, but unattainable… it's too damned painful to stand._

"As you wish," Q said in a somber tone, vanishing out of sight without another words spoken. But as Ael closed her eyes and heaved a weary sigh…

Something within her gut told her that she hadn't quite seen the last of Q.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The following morning dawned clear and bright, not a single suggestion of cloud in the pristinely clear sky that was quite the happy shade of blue. The sun hung brightly overhead, its warmth foretelling the tale that the day ahead was going to be a scorcher, the light breeze that was flitting about already attempting to provide a touch of comfort in regards to the coming heat of the summer sun. The leaves of a rather large tree quietly quivered in response to the breeze, the white blossoms that were reminiscent of springtime carrying the most wonderful fragrance, a fragrance that caused the stranger within its branches to smile softly in response to it.

Ael was oh so blissfully unaware of all that was unusually around her, the leaves that were being rustled by the cool breeze, the breeze itself, the little song birds that were gleefully hopping from branch-to-branch, and even the little buzzing mahidh that found a little blossom nearby quite interesting, went unnoticed… until she yawned that was.

Everything around her began to intensify when she yawned and attempted to stretch, her surroundings suddenly feeling far more real than they had only moments before. The object directly beneath her small frame felt in no way like her bed, soft and comfortable, warm and comforting. No, nothing like that at all! This currently unknown resting place was hard…scratchy, and there was a rather annoying buzzing noise that seemed to be directly above her ear, and that breeze… Had she even opened her window the previous night? Not that she could recall, something was definitely amiss; this was no dream.

Green eyes began to open slowly, widening dramatically when she finally realized that she was being held captive up a rather large tree that hadn't been in her front yard the evening before. She dared to look down, her vision swimming when all she could see through the foliage and blossoms was a staggering drop to the ground below. This particular tree must have been a good one hundred feet high! And there was only one person that Ael knew could be held responsible for her current plight.

"Q!"

"You rang?" Q inquired with a smile, appearing perched comfortably beside her. "Is there something that I can do?"

"You're damn right!"

"My, but you are feisty this morning. Approaching your monthly friend?"

"Are you kidding me!" she screeched, afraid to make even the smallest movement for fear of falling from her precarious perch that was one hundred feet above the ground. "Romulan females don't have periods! How the fuck do you think I'm going to feel when I wake up in a ginormous tree?!"

"How should I know?" he responded with a casual shrug, Ael's eye wide with fear. She should have known that he would behave innocently concerning this entire scenario! But if he wouldn't help her down…

"Q!" Ael hollered, latching onto, and hugging the tree's thick trunk. "This isn't funny! Get me down!"

"Now why would I want to do that?" he asked, seriousness etching his otherwise amused tone.

"Are you serious?" she screeched, her vision blurring and weaving as she attempted to once again glance downwards. "Q, I can barely stand on a step ladder without getting disoriented! I hate heights! Get me the fuck down from here!"

"My my, little one, such a temper." Ael could almost hear Q's callous, despicable smirk as he spoke again, filling her with an extreme sense of dread. He really wasn't going to get her down! What was she supposed to do? "Besides, I have a feeling that you won't have long to wait before someone comes along to rescue you, perhaps he'll even sweep you off your feet."

A far off noise that Ael could barely hear through the wind rustling through the leaves on her precarious perch was all the incentive that she needed to begin hollering her head off. She didn't care who it was that was down there on the ground and out of harms way, she just wanted out of this damned tree!

"Help!" she cried out again at the top of her voice, her tone wavering as she attempted to remain still, her eyes scrunched tightly closed as she strained with her ears, her hope of a response not at all in vain.

"Who is up there?"

That voice! Tomalak! "It's Ael," she yelled back. "Please…you have to help me down!"

Tomalak raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sun as he stared upwards, attempting to spy his target through the brightly blossoming foliage. How high was this damned tree, and come to think of it… had this tree even been in the yard last night upon his arrival to the general's estate? Now that he thought about it… it hadn't been.

"How in the Elements' names did you get up there? And where did this tree come from?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you!" she hollered back, her grip on the tree's trunk increasing when another breeze wound its way through the leaves and branches, causing Ael to feel like she was about to topple out of the tree if she dared to take another breath. "Please… you have to get me down. I'm scared of heights."

Tomalak took a moment to step back and assess the situation at hand. True, he could always go back into the house and alert the girl's father to the situation, but that would mean interrupting him, a general, in the middle of a very important conference call, and Tomalak knew that such a thing was only asking for trouble. He wasn't certain where her mother was at that moment, and the whereabouts of her older brother and sister was also a mystery, though he supposed that he could simply step through the front door of the home and call out for someone to come to his aid.

"Are you still there?" A young and frightened voice floated back down to where Tomalak stood, the middle-aged Romulan sighing in a slightly irritated fashion. "Please…you can't leave me up here. I'll fall," she cried, tears evident in her voice. The last thing she ever wanted Tomalak to see her as was a child, a helpless little girl that was hopelessly dependant on someone else for the majority of her wants and needs, and at the moment, her safety. _But that's all I am right now, helpless._

"Remain calm," he called up, working on removing the bulky uniform top and harness from his person, lest they get caught on a stray branch during his little rescue operation to retrieve the general's daughter from the near hundred-foot tree that had suddenly appeared in the front yard. "Do not move."

"Hurry," she called out, daring to open her eyes and see if Tomalak had even begun his ascent up the tree, her desperation increasing when she saw that he hadn't. The tears soon began in earnest in regards to Ael's sticky predicament, her grip weakening in response to not only her palms becoming slick with sweat due to her overwhelming fear, but also due to her fitful sobbing.

"This is not how I planned to spend my morning," Tomalak mumbled, beginning his ascent with marginal difficulty, the lack of gnarls and knots around the bottom portion of the tree to use as footholds and secure hand placements, making the initial portion of the coming rescue more than a little irritating and it was already quite the daunting climb, over one hundred feet above the ground. The climb began simply enough, Tomalak quick to notice that there was something rather odd about this tree, well, more odd than simply appearing out of nowhere! The knots and gnarls that he was using as both footholds and hand grabs, seemed to be placed precisely on the tree, as though it had been made for climbing easily, definitely unnatural.

Meanwhile, from her perch far above her home, Ael was in a touch more difficulty than she really thought was necessary in the moment, a little song bird flittering about the high branches and attempting to land close-by. It wasn't everyday that a human – or in this case, Romulan – was sitting near the top of a tree.

"Will you get lost?" Ael hissed, attempting to shoo the bird away with a single hand. Such an option was rather short lived, though, the normally simply motion causing further disorientation and a touch of nausea alongside. "Tomalak?" she called out into the air. "Are you close?"

"No, unfortunately not," he responded, Ael whimpering in response and clamping her eyes tightly closed. "Though I should be nearing you within another few minutes; this tree is ridiculously simple to climb, the problem lies in its height."

"I'm sorry to keep whining," she called out, her voice far from calm. "I'm just disoriented and feeling nauseated."

"Keep your eyes closed and take deep, even breaths," he instructed. "Try to focus on something other than your plight, it will aid in calming you and then the ill feelings should subside." Now it was more important than ever to keep her calm, lest he get an unexpected surprise should she attempt to gaze down one time too many!

While Tomalak continued his ascent, Ael focused her mind on something else… on Tomalak, to be precise. In her mind's eye she was older and more mature, a beautiful Romulan woman instead of a tiny sixteen year old girl that felt like she had yet to come into her own. A smile passed across her lips and a noise of bliss bubbled up from her chest as she glimpsed the two of them, both she and Tomalak, walking hand-in-hand along the silver sandy beaches of the great Apnex Sea. They were in the midst of a beautiful moonlit stroll, everything about heir surroundings calm and peaceful. A pair of twin moons shone brightly overhead, their silvery-white light reflecting off of the lavender-tinged waters and casting delicate and beautiful shadows in all of the right places.

And then Tomalak turned to her, cupping her face gently in his hands as he drew nearer to her, and then their lips met in a soft kiss that quickly turned passionate, goose bumps rising on her bare arms in response to the emotions that her thoughts were beginning to produce all through her body. It was simply exquisite. Her thoughts continued until Tomalak was directly below her, and he was forced to call her name three times in order to procure her attention away from her thoughts and back onto him.

She opened her eyes by the barest of margins, giddy with relief that Tomalak had finally managed to make it all the way to where she was haphazardly straddling one branch while grasping the trunk of the tree for dear life, where before she had been certain that at any moment she was going to fall due to a large gust of wind that was nothing nature intended. Her tear-filled eyes gazed into his very no-nonsense ones, and for a brief moment she felt tides of hurt and confusion washing over her.

_This isn't my written-world where Tomalak and I both mean something to one another_, she thought sadly_. This is a similar yet different place, one where I am a child and Tomalak the currently unhappy adult. He's probably irritated that he had to climb up here to get me… I could try and explain Q, but I wouldn't know how to begin. I should have told Daddy about Q the instant he first appeared to me in the kerosh pasture. _

"I am unable to climb higher." Tomalak's voice snapped Ael back to the present, her limbs shaking as she stared straight ahead, she couldn't keep looking down or she really would fall! "You are going to have to let go of the tree and latch onto me instead."

"I-I can't," she insisted tearfully, her breath beginning to come out in wheezing gasps. "I'll lose my balance."

"You will not," he said, attempting to reassure her, not that he was any sort of good at being terribly reassuring. "Release your grip slowly, and then reach down and grab onto my shoulders. Wrap your legs around my waist if you can. You will not fall if you listen to me and remain calm."

What Tomalak was requesting her to do didn't sound simple by any means, certainly not in the moment! What he was telling her to do sounded like a laundry list of instructions that she doubted that she could remember through the whirlwind of her fear, the vertigo currently wasn't doing her any favors either!

"I'll fall," she insisted again, further irritating Tomalak, a man who wasn't exactly known for vast amounts of patience.

"Would you rather I leave you up here?" he asked, his tone serious.

"No! I'll try to move…just don't leave me up here!"

Air and Fire; this girl's squalling was really getting on his last nerve, but even so Tomalak stayed as still as possible while Ael focused on releasing the tree trunk and reaching down to him. She eyed her target closely, certain that if she didn't do everything just-so that she was going to fall to her doom. Tentatively she reached down, drawing back at the last possible moment, Tomalak exhaling in annoyance.

"You are going to have to trust me and you are going to have to trust yourself. I understand that you are very concerned with falling and I understand that you likely feel very frightened and disoriented, but hesitation with your movements will be what causes you to fall from your perch. You must act swiftly and have confidence," he said, attempting to bolster what confidence she did have so that she could act quickly, and then both of them would be out of the tree within another ten minutes, give or take.

"Okay, just don't move," she said, swallowing hard as she eyed her target for one final time. _This is it… One… Two… Three… Go!_ Taking a deep breath Ael allowed her body to sway and fall towards Tomalak, her hands grabbing his shoulders as instructed, though she quickly changed her tactic by wrapping her arms around his neck instead, flailing wildly with her legs for several moments before she could get them around his waist.

"Loosen your grip before you cut off my air supply," Tomalak instructed in a somewhat choked voice, Ael complying… barely. She loosened her grip as much as she dared to do, burying her face into Tomalak's shoulder while he began the task of carefully picking his way back down the tree. Ael held tightly to Tomalak during the descent back to the ground below, her eyes scrunched closed in intense apprehension and her limbs trembling as she sought to keep her hold secure. However… there was a somewhat comforting aspect to the whole scenario.

_At least I'm finally able to touch him_, she thought. _It may not be exactly as I wish for, but it's something at least_. Inhaling deeply Ael thought she detected the abrasive scent of ale, but it wasn't terribly strong, a touch of musk causing her to sigh audibly. _He smells pretty nice too. _And then another thought invaded her mind, both upsetting and comforting her at the same time. _But when we get down from this cursed tree and I loosen my hold and drop back to the firmness of the ground, I will probably fall to my knees and weep like a lost and frightened child, reaching out for Tomalak to comfort me in the moment. What adult would deny any child comfort when they are distressed and need a pair of arms to hold them close in reassurance? I know that he'll see it differently…maybe… He and most everyone else just thinks this "infatuation" is nothing more than a fleeting one after all. I don't care what he thinks of me this time; I just want to be encased in his arms._

"Two inquires if I may," Tomalak said, his voice breaking the silence that had elapsed since the moment that Ael had latched tightly onto him.

"Okay," Ael responded, her voice muffled from her face being pressed so tightly against his neck. It wouldn't take much to give him just a little kiss, it was honestly so tempting.

"The first question is: where did this tree come from? I do not remember it being here last night. My second… how did you manage to climb up there if you are afraid of heights, not to mention why did you make the climb in your nightdress?"

"That's three questions. And you asked me two of them earlier."

"Indeed," he said dryly, attempting to navigate a particularly awkward section of intertwining branches. "Some enlightenment would certainly prove useful." Silence. "I understand that you are frightened, but holding a conversation may take your mind away from your current predicament that I would really be interested to know how you found yourself in."

"It's really, _really_ difficult to explain, Tomalak," she began, uncertain exactly how to proceed with an explanation.

"As you seem to be inclined to say: Try me."

_Maybe I should just tell him,_ she thought quietly, daring to peek out from her hiding place to see how much further Tomalak needed to go in order to reach the safe haven that was solid ground. _But I haven't even told Daddy about this yet, and he'll be upset enough as it is without hearing it from Tomalak first._

"Are you unable to give me even the smallest hint, as to how you got up there?"

_He is getting really irritated… I have to say something. Elements, Tomalak, I hope to something-or-other that you can keep a secret._ "I don't know how I got up there," she began slowly, yelping sharply when Tomalak's grip momentarily slipped, jostling her unexpectedly.

"Are you attempting to tell me that you simply…_appeared_ in this tree?"

"Yes. I woke up in it."

"Then we must be in a rather peculiar dream, because one simply does not find themselves at the top of a very large tree for no explainable reason."

"They do when they're dealing with Q," she answered sourly before she could stop herself.

"If I may inquire… what is a "Q" or do I even want to know?"

"Trust me, you don't," she said seriously. "I can try and explain him…" _I was afraid of this!_ "But you probably won't believe a word of it."

For the next ten minutes Ael attempted to explain Q, though she left out the details of her first ever encounter with the being, Tomalak remaining eerily silent during her explanation. She had been fairly certain that he would interrupt at least a time or two, but he was dead silent, waiting until they were on solid ground (and Ael quite literally off of his back) before he offered up any sort of response at all.

"_That_ is your explanation?" he asked, folding his arms and fixing her with a stern stare. He definitely didn't buy her story, his next words confirming it without confusion. "You are correct; I don't believe a word of it."

"Yeah, it's my explanation," she retorted snappily, the tears already beginning to pool in her eyes. Not believing her was one thing, but acting so callous…that just hurt especially coming from him. "And it's true," she continued, hastily scrubbing the tears from her eyes.

"What you attempted to describe isn't even possible."

"Not everything in this world has to logically make sense, Tomalak. Some things in the universe just…they just don't! You don't know of every species in the known universe, you know! How can you just dismiss me?"

"Watch your tone," he scolded, Ael stepping back in surprise. Had he just…scolded her for proverbial back talk?

_He is never going to see me as anything other than a child! Thanks a lot, Q, you made things worse than they ever could have been had I been on my own._ "Fine…then don't listen."

"I do believe that I have heard quite enough," he said, turning to head back into the house in hopes that her father had finished with his conference call.

"If you don't believe me then fine," she hollered, desperation beginning to creep into her tone. "But don't tell my father anything that I've said!" _If Daddy hears it from him I will be in so much trouble for not reporting Q in the first place!_

"The last thing that my superior needs is to hear from me that I think his daughter has gone mad." Those words sealed the discussion closed, Tomalak disappearing back inside and Ael falling to her knees in the grass, sobbing in both anger and heartfelt misery.

"Go to hell, Q," she whispered to the ground. "Just drop dead and go straight to hell."


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After the incident with Tomalak (and Q), Ael had remained in the grass for some time, sobbing pitifully and cursing Q at the same time while praying fervently to the Elements above that Tomalak wasn't informing her father about everything that had just transpired. Once her tears (and curses) had been exhausted she had taken herself indoors through the side passage, making her way back to her room and to her bed, curling up under her blanket and refusing to move for anything or anyone. And then morning meal came around, no one having much luck rousing the upset girl from her bed; not even her much older brother could coax her out from beneath her blanket, which left only one person in the world that could.

Her father.

"I hear that someone isn't feeling well."

Ael's tired, uncertain eyes momentarily creased in relief when her father entered her room, but they just as quickly dulled back to their previous state. She hated keeping secrets from him, and this whole business with Q was driving her absolutely mad besides! She had never wanted to tell him anything this desperately before, but what exactly was she supposed to say that wouldn't cause both her and Tomalak to (possibly) get into trouble? He was the core reason for Q's sudden and unannounced return after all, and Ael couldn't stomach the idea that she might get him in hot water with her father, even if nothing was even remotely his fault.

_It's mine for loving him,_ she thought miserably, the tears already pooling in her eyes and beginning to run down her cheeks by the time her father had crossed the room and had sat on the edge of her bed. _Not that he feels anything in return for me. To him I'm just a smart mouthed, whiny child._ She remained silent as he sat with her, his hand gently stroking her hair as she lie still, staring off into nothingness like her thoughts were millions of light years away from her current location.

His second youngest daughter was known for occasionally becoming stressed enough to become ill without warning, and her thoughts concerning Tomalak might finally be getting the best of her. "I am sorry that you are not feeling well, my winged one," he said, Ael closing her eyes against a further onslaught of tears. She couldn't stand looking into his eyes when he was this concerned for her, especially because she was more-or-less lying to him with her silence about Q's return. She was just so damned conflicted!

"I-it's okay, Daddy," she stammered, Movar shaking his head to indicate that her misery was most assuredly not okay at all.

"No, Ael, it is not," he informed her. "It is never all right when one of my children is suffering, especially when that suffering is needless. I have a suspicion or two that your sudden illness is the result of stress, no doubt brought on by a certain commander that has likely stayed far longer than necessary."

Her father may have been speaking gently, but the (partial) truth still hurt. A lot. _But it isn't Tomalak's fault! _She wanted to scream_. It's Q's! He's back again and I don't know what to do! He's turning Tomalak against me and is just plain old making me miserable. Please, Daddy…you have to help me_. The words just wouldn't leave her mouth, though after several minutes of silence Ael finally managed to drum up a word or two.

"I-it isn't about Tomalak," she said quietly, unable to fully look into her father's eyes when she spoke. "I-I do feel saddened because we can never be together, but that isn't the reason for my feeling this way."

"Then what is it, Ael?" he asked, opening his arms to her, Ael unable to resist cuddling into them and letting her emotional state deteriorate even further than it already was.

"I-I don't really know," she began, attempting to come up with a believable explanation. "I guess maybe I'm just…missing one or two things from my old life. Does it sound…stupid to you? I almost feel like a traitor to you… You have given me so much and I shouldn't be dwelling on the past…" _or lying to you through my teeth, either._

"It is perfectly natural to grieve for one's past, and you did spend nearly twenty three years of your life there before the incident that occurred a year ago," he reminded her. "Having emotions does not make one a traitor, Ael. Now what is it that you are grieving for? Perhaps there is a way that I am able to help you."

This lie was going to get bigger and bigger with every moment, perhaps it was best that she keep her next answer simple. "I really only miss a couple of things; my only friend and my cat, I know at least the "I miss my cat" part has to be stupid."

"No, Ael, it does not. Your animal was your companion, one that you had for many years."

"I had him for ten," she admitted. "I know we have Vala, but it isn't the same."

"I understand. As for dealing with the loss of your friend, perhaps it is time that you ventured outside of the family circle in regards to companionship."

"I-I'd rather not," she said quickly. True, she spent the vast majority of her time with the family, learning, training, having a life that most could only dream of, but would it really kill her to make a friend or two outside of the intimacy of family? "I like spending time with everyone and besides," she said, leaning away from her father so that she could look into his eyes as she spoke, lying was certainly becoming easier with every passing moment, and she hated that it was so. "I doubt that I would ever be able to trust anyone on this world enough to find a true friend, not like I had back home. I don't mean to be rude if I am…"

"You are not," he assured her, the world around them not exactly known for being full of souls that one would share their most intimate of secrets with, lest they want them exposed later for the most trivial of reasons, but still, there were trustworthy souls around. She simply had to take the time to find them, or at the very least the one that would become her lifeline and last forever.

"I just don't feel like it right now," she said sullenly, leaning back into his arms and sighing with relief that she no longer had to lie directly to his face, his shirt was much easier to lie to. "I don't feel like doing anything."

"Perhaps not, but I do not want you to get back into the habit of isolation, Ael. Such a habit benefits no one, and only serves to make you more miserable than necessary."

"I guess so."

"I know so," he said, squeezing her tightly, Ael unable to resist squeezing back even though she felt terrible about her partial lie."

"Come," he said, rising to his feet and reaching down to help Ael to hers. "Sulking in bed is not how I want you to spend your day."

"I won't, but do I have to go to morning meal? I'm not really hungry," she said, knowing that she was likely going to see Tomalak there, forced to deal with him giving her weird, irritated looks from across the table.

"You do. A good meal will help you focus, Ael, it will give you much needed energy."

"What do I need energy for?" she mumbled. _Probably Q's upcoming brand of "fun,"_ something in her head reminded her.

"How would you like to spend the day together, my winged one?" Movar asked, Ael's anxious thoughts concerning both Q and Tomalak fading quickly into the background. She hadn't spent a real day with her father in months! He was always off at the capital and working, plotting against the Empire's most hated enemies or working in his office with the door locked. Not only would she get to spend a day with him, but Q couldn't dare bother her when he was by her side!

"An entire day? Really?" He nodded, smiling at her sudden exuberance. "You mean… no work in your office or trips to the capital or anything? Just one, entire day with you?"

He couldn't help but laugh, she was suddenly so animated, so cheerful! It was a pleasant sight indeed. "Yes, my winged one; an entire day. And we will do whatever you would like."

"I'm already making my list!" she said, beginning to recite everything that popped readily into her head, no matter how juvenile a request or two might have seemed to others' ears.

All through first meal Ael was chatty and cheerful, and she was (for a strange reason that she couldn't place) thankful that Tomalak had already taken his leave from the home for the day, she was certain that if he had not that she wouldn't be quite as animated. By the time the meal had finished Ael had mentally constructed her list for the day's activities, hurrying to her room to have a quick shower and to change clothes before her day began.

"Let's see," she began, lifting a padd from her desktop and staring at her happily-made plans for the day. "I think we'll start out with a long, mid-morning kerosh ride, and I mean a long ride! I think three hours should be sufficient." She grinned, securing her sash around her waist. "And then we'll go into the city and to all of my favorite stores; the tea shop, that absolutely huge candy store that has all of those gorgeous chocolates in the glass display case…" Already she was drooling at the thoughts of all of those delicious chocolates, she was certain that she could convince her father to buy her a generous amount, well… maybe!

"And then," she continued, "we'll have lunch at that one café in the city's center that I absolutely adore. Oh I can already taste that flatbread melt. Then we'll come back here and play some games, I think khariat is in order, but I'll be nice and throw in a game or two of chess since he likes it so much." She continued going through her list of daily activities, including just some quiet time to sit together and talk or read, and maybe even a fun sparring session down in the workout room even though Ael knew she wouldn't have a chance. Perhaps another kerosh ride before dinner, if they could fit it in of course, concluding the day with perhaps a few more leisurely games of khariat or chess with anyone who desired to be a part.

"It's going to be a great day," she promised as she reached the door to her room. "And absolutely nothing is going to get in the way of it."

…..

It had been a great past day indeed, Ael waking the following more refreshed and ready to greet the day before her. Thankfully there had been no surprise visits from Q during the course of the previous day out with her father; she hadn't even heard the irritating entity's voice in her ear a single time, the thought making her smile. Maybe he had finally gotten the hint, as they say, returning to his perfect little continuum and out of her life. Tomalak was also no where to be found or seen, the commander likely at the capital city and working on, well, whatever it was that successful Romulan commanders' tended to work on, Ael doubtful that she would come into contact with him again anytime soon.

"It's just as well," she said, opening her shutters to greet the morning before turning away to head into the washroom for a bath before first meal was called. "He thinks I'm a delusional child anyways, not to mention he is way older than me."

"And why does that matter?"

Ael halted in her tracks; that voice! _Oh for heavens sakes!_ She turned, whirling around when she caught sight of Q standing a meter away. "You again? I thought you went back to your little continuum."

"The continuum is hardly "little," but that is beside the point. Why I simply cannot believe that you have given up on your pursuit of the good commander quite so easily."

"What pursuit? Q, I had a crush, that's all it was. And Tomalak is off doing things for the Empire or whatever it is that he normally does. Seriously, get lost before I scream bloody murder. My daddy would be in here so fast that wouldn't have time to wave that hand of yours."

"You really want me to leave? You really want me to stay out of this situation when I know exactly how you feel about the good commander?"

"I'm going to go pee now, and then have a bath. You have fun standing out here by yourself." And then she turned away and walked into the washroom and closed the door behind her, locking it securely even though she knew that the action was a futile one. If Q wanted into the bathroom then he would simply go in! Thankfully he didn't, Ael peeking carefully around the doorway before heading into her room to change her clothes.

"You'd better not be leering at me, you perv," she mumbled as she slipped a summer dress over her head.

"Now would I ever leer at a lady?"

Ael jumped, startled, Q suddenly appearing to her immediate left. "Stop that!" she yelped. "And yes, you would. Didn't you once appear in Captain Janeway's bathtub…_while _she was in it? That's a bit on the perverted side if you ask me."

"Oh, Kathy didn't mind." He waved his hand, Ael folding her arms.

"Didn't she?"

"I'm not here to discuss dear Kathy," he said. "I am here to discuss the thoughts that keep whirling around and around in that head of yours. You can't get Tomalak out of your mind, can you?"

"That's it, I've had enough." Taking in a deep breath Ael prepared to emit a scream so loud and high-pitched that Q would most certainly find his way back to his continuum in a hurry! But before a single sound could leave her lips…

_Oh great…_

"Ael?"

"Um… hi, Tomalak," Ael said somewhat nervously, even though she was highly irritated at Q for zapping her away from home and into, well… she wasn't exactly sure where she was.

The Romulan commander eyed his surroundings warily; this was definitely not his private office back at the capitol building! In fact he was fairly certain that he was over an hour away by flitter, the grassy area that he was currently standing in, awfully familiar.

"What in the names of Air and Fire is going on here?" he asked crossly, staring at her as though she might have some keen insight to share.

"Probably Q," she answered with a sigh. "Or do you not believe me… _again_?"

"There must be a more reasonable explanation," Tomalak mused aloud, momentarily ignoring Ael's snide tone.

Ael couldn't help but scoff. "Seriously? What sort of explanation could there possibly be for this? People just don't appear in fields for no reason!"

Before Tomalak could respond… "The girl does have a point, Commander."

Tomalak blinked in surprise to the man that had suddenly flashed before him, why in the literal blink of an eye! The nameless man wore a mischievous smirk, the glimmer in his eyes nothing that Tomalak found even remotely desirable. That expression spelled only one thing: Trouble. Could the being that Ael had mentioned twice now… actually exist?

Impossible!

Still… what could it hurt to inquire? "And just who are you?"

"Why I'm Q, of course," Q said, offering a gentlemanly bow before fixing Tomalak with a mischievous stare that he had yet to become acquainted with or fear.

"I told you so, Tomalak," Ael snapped, folding her arms and glaring.

"Do not get flippant, young lady," he snapped back, Ael's brow creasing in upset. Who did he think he was? Scolding her as though she were no more than a tiny toddler! The nerve!

"I-I wasn't," she stammered. "And if we're talking about attitudes, yours stinks. Don't get mad at me because my explanation to you yesterday was a real one. I told you that Q was real, didn't I?"

"She did, you know," Q chimed in, Tomalak fixing the entity with a deadly glare.

"Why?" Tomalak bluntly asked, folding his arms tightly as he stared menacingly at Q.

"Why?" Q echoed. "Why is the sky blue? Why do the birds fly? Why is the grass this rather interesting shade of blue-green? You'll have to phrase your question better than that, Romulan," he chuckled, taunting.

"What is your motive behind continually placing this girl, and what looks to be myself in such irritating circumstances?"

_Elements, Q, keep your mouth shut_, she begged silently, but it was not meant to be.

"Oh surely you can see the reason. I mean you're a simple people and all that, but look at her, look at this girl and tell me that you don't see that little spark of adoration in her eyes," he said, winking at Ael like he had just done her a grand service.

Tomalak gazed at the young lady that stood only meter away from him, her posture tense and uncertain, her eyes on him for the most part though she kept glancing at the entity that stood nearby, watching them both in a happily intrigued sort of way. The expression on her face was indeed tense, but there was a hint of sparkle in her green eyes when she looked at him, one that he had seen much more prominently only a day or so before.

"I have seen similar expressions," he said, somewhat dismissively.

"Oh really? You think that this is somehow a case of a young girl attracted to a strong and handsome man, a soldier in the military, one who is virtuous and courageous and who surely wields a great amount of power, perhaps a little wealth. Am I right, Romulan?"

"Hell no," Ael snapped softly, two pairs of eyes turning towards her, Q grinning in satisfaction.

"There's your answer. It isn't all that you think."

"Would you care to explain why my assumptions are so grossly incorrect?"

"Now who has a "tone""? she grumbled.

"I have already had more than enough of this nonsense!" Tomalak yelled, quickly demanding that he be returned to where he had been only a short time prior.

"Hey, what about me?!" Ael protested.

"Stay here with this one, since you both apparently enjoy playing games," he snapped, turning and beginning to walk away.

"I'm not playing any sort of "game," Tomalak, God! And no one likes Q's brand of "fun" anyways. Seriously, slow down and wait, you can't leave me behind like this! I'll never get home!"

In her haste to catch up with the commander, Ael neglected to watch her footing, tripping over a stone that lay directly in her path. The next sounds out of Ael's mouth were her cries of pain, Tomalak forced to halt in his tracks and turn back towards her. "What have you gotten yourself into now?" he asked, though he did walk back to her, crouching down where she sat hunched over in the grass and clutching her ankle.

"I tripped," she started, wincing when Tomalak prodded her sore ankle. "And it wasn't done on purpose!"

"I didn't say that it was. Now stop squirming and allow me to have a look at your ankle."

"Why exactly do you even care?" she snapped. "I thought that I was somehow in cahoots with that idiot." She jerked her head towards Q. "But I'm not. I would never try and deceive you, Tomalak. Q may be here because of me, but I never asked for him to be. I've been asking him…_telling _him to leave me the hell alone since the other night, but you saw how well that worked out. I did wake up in that tree, remember?"

"Yes," he said dryly. "I unfortunately do. As for your ankle there is fortunate news to be had: It wasn't fractured by your fall. However…you do appear to have managed to twist it quite severely." He gazed around the immediate area, reaching down to pluck the stone that had tripped her, off of the ground. How could such a little thing cause so much trouble! And then he gazed upwards at Q, rising to his feet with the stone in hand.

"Why are you looking at me like that for?" Q asked, feigning a set of hurt feelings.

"Because I would willingly wager that you placed this stone directly into her path."

"Oh come now," he scoffed. "Would I truly do such a thing?"

"Hell yes," Ael piped up from her spot on the ground.

"It is quite obvious that you wield a lot of power," Tomalak said, tossing the stone well away from Ael's position. "And your next task is to mend that girl's injury so that we may return home."

"You would walk all of that way? Why it must be a good ten kilometers away, or maybe it's twenty… I'm not certain that I remember exactly where it is that I've placed you."

"I've had enough of these games," Tomalak growled, making his way back to Ael and carefully helping her to her feet, the girl forced to lean her entire weight into him for support as she walked, rather limped, forwards. "Put all of your weight into me if necessary," he instructed.

It wasn't long before Q was beside them. "Certainly you wouldn't make this poor thing traverse such a distance when she can barely walk. How cruel can you be?"

"You are the last person that could ever lecture another on the basis of what cruelty is," Tomalak responded shortly. "And she is capable of making the walk."

"No, Tomalak," Ael suddenly interjected, pain twisting her features as she began to sag to the ground. "I can't. The pain is just too much."

Tomalak stared down at her, scrutinizing her before he turned his attention once again to Q, who appeared to be rather pleased with himself. "What have you done?"

"Me? Why nothing! Her injury is obviously too severe to make the walk, poor thing. I suppose her fate is now entirely up to you."

This had already gone way too far for Tomalak's liking, way too far indeed! "You listen to me and you listen damn closely," he yelled, jabbing his finger in Q's direction, the entity simply gazing at him as if momentarily irritated. "I will not engage in these sorts of games, and no matter what her feelings are or are not she does not need to be continually placed in precarious scenario after precarious scenario."

"My my, someone certainly had a temper," Q commented. "Then again so does she. What a fine match the two of you would make. Surely you can see it, yes?" Tomalak only glared, Q's smile fading. "No, I suppose that you can't."

"I am taking Ael home, and I had best not see you anywhere near either of us again."

And then Tomalak made his way to Ael, reaching down and scooping her up and into his arms. She was small enough to pick up and carry home, so that was his plan… until Q appeared directly in front of them, a grin on his face so annoyingly intense that Ael wanted to slap him. She knew exactly what was coming next, well, sort of.

"Why you swept that girl right off of her feet. Perhaps, dear Romulan, you truly are this girl's, as she might be inclined to say, Knight in Shining Armor!"

A bright flash of light engulfed them, Ael squeezing her eyes closed in preparation for what was possibly to come. Within moments she was on the ground, Tomalak's arms no longer cradling her safely against him, the smell of acrid smoke heavy in the air. Ael coughed violently in response to the scent, her eyes burning as she attempted to open them by the barest of margins and her gaze coming to rest upon the scorched earth and grass that had likely been devoid of life for many decades, or so it seemed. Ael attempted to move from her current position, her limbs aching and protesting as she attempted to right her position, her eyes forced to close when a hot, stale breeze wafted over her. The so called breeze came again, Ael nearly retching at the scent; a low rumbling forcing her eyes to open in order to see what mess Q had just gotten her into.

Ael had never been more terrified in all of her known life, her eyes widening in unspeakable terror when she stared straight into the eyes of a mighty dragon. The great creature's head was turned towards her, staring, large eyes the color of burning flame fueling feelings of intense anxiety within her and straight to her core. The head of this magnificent, medieval creature was larger than Ael's entire body, a puff of acrid smoke spewing from its nostrils as it growled low and steady. Its hide was onyx black, its scales reflecting little light and giving the creature a somewhat dull appearance, the spires that rose from its head silver and sharp, very intimidating. Ael swallowed hard when the creature opened its mouth, the inner portion of its great maw the same fiery red as its eyes, and large enough to swallow her without needing to chew a single bite.

The dragon snorted again, lifting its gaze away from its captive and focusing on something in the distance that Ael was unable to see from her current position. The beast stood, staring, its massive wings unfurling before Ael's eyes before quickly folding again. Ael wasn't certain what to do as her heart hammered violently within her chest. Then again, what could one do in this situation other than either stare wide-eyed in shock or scream in terror?

Ael chose to do both, screaming at the top of her lungs while the dragon roared in response, the noise so intense that it reverberated through the very ground that Ael was resting upon. She curled into a ball, shielding her head with her hands in vain, waiting for the creature to strike.

"Q!" she hollered, her distress very clear.

"Did someone call for a champion?" Q's voice rang out, loud and victorious as he appeared from thin air astride a steed of snowy white. The animal reared back on its haunches, slashing the air with its forelegs as it cried out mightily, fearlessly! The silver armor on the horse completed the intimidating look, the spikes on its face plate adding a fearsome touch.

"Q, this isn't funny anymore!"

"Why it isn't supposed to be amusing, dear girl."

"It definitely isn't!" The dragon roared again, a warning breath of fiery flame released into the air, Ael's body weary in response to the sudden, withering heat. "Help! Please!" she begged.

"Your champion is coming, my dear, I assure you." Q's horse pawed the ground, shaking its head and snorting noisily in response to the sound of quickly approaching hoof beats. "And here he is now! Hurry up, my good fellow, come and save your damsel in distress!"

To say that he was not amused was a vast understatement indeed, the Romulan commander currently finding himself astride a creature that bore resemblance to a kerosh, but seemed to be twice as quick as any that he had ever ridden in his past. His "valiant steed," as Q had called it was the color of steel, while the armor that liberally covered the animal's chest, hindquarters and face were a much lighter coloration, crimson and gold access splashed here and there to mark the animal's ties to a noble knight. The noble knight in question was where Tomalak came into play, the surprised (and still very irritated) man finding himself not only astride an armored animal, but also finding himself decked out from head-to-toe in a similar fashion. Cold, hard steel glinted in the sunlight, the visor portion of his helm providing barely enough visibility to see what the hell he was doing or exactly who or what lay ahead, the golden and red plume fluttering lightly in the warm and unnatural breeze that swirled around him from miles away.

Thankfully he had ridden similar creatures to this before, so he had little problem spurring the animal forwards at a fast pace, grumbling to himself the entire way and pulling to an immediate halt when he saw the dragon looming ahead, Ael currently on the ground and curled into a ball of fright.

"Well go on!" Q said, sidling his mount closer.

"Go on and what?" Tomalak demanded, his voice muffled and echoing.

"Why save her of course. Be that "knight in shining armor" that she has always wished for."

"I will not play these sorts of games!" He hollered. "You could end all of this with but a wave of your hand."

"You're right, I could. But I won't."

"You would rather the girl die?"

"She won't perish if you save her now will she."

This was all so damned infuriating! He did not want to play these sorts of games! There was no need for it; it was all so brutally senseless! _I have little choice,_ Tomalak thought_. If I do nothing then she will surely perish. Her father would have my head if I stood by and allowed harm to come to her_. "How do you propose I deal with…whatever that is?"

"Oh how silly of me," Q said, laughing jovially as he waved his hand, a large sword that was reminiscent of mighty Excalibur appearing in Tomalak's right hand, a shield that was easily three quarters of his body height, in the other. "You will most assuredly need those," he promised. "That is a dragon, a creature that breathes fire, you see. Oh, it can also fly, but I suppose you would have found out both things sooner or later."

"You mean to get us both killed," Tomalak snapped, attempting to juggle sword, shield and reins, everything was far too cumbersome for his liking.

"I'm just having a little fun," he insisted. "Come now, Commander, where is your sense of fun, adventure?"

"Not here and most certainly not with you!"

"Tomalak, help!" Ael's desperate scream pierced the air, the dragon roaring a deafening warning to anyone nearby that was entertaining the notion of a rescue attempt.

"You heard the lady," Q said, gesturing towards where she lay. "Help her, good knight."

"You will pay for this," Tomalak promised as he turned his mount, sizing up his target and attempting to formulate a plan of attack in his head. Rushing the creature would most certainly be a useless tactic, the beast certain to end him by either the single stomp of a foot or by the simple act of closing its jaws over both him, and his mount. _This is not going to end well…_

The dragon's gaze was set on the "knight" before him, a wicked gleam in the creature's red eyes as they followed the man and his mount, two deliciously tender morsels simply waiting to be gobbled up in one fell swoop, or perhaps burnt to a pile of ashen cinder would be much more pleasurable in the moment. Deftly turning his mount Tomalak attempted to circle the creature, to flank it in hopes of scoring a moderately simple victory, the sooner this whole thing was over the better, but nothing was going to be quite that simple about his tactic.

A large, very thick tail that was adorned with half-meter long spikes was suddenly in his sights, the appendage swinging towards him with violent and deadly force. He sharply turned his mount, the animal beneath him protesting the action for a brief moment, complying when it too caught sight of the inbound tail. The creature's appendage slammed harmlessly into the ground, the beast attempting to turn itself without losing possession over its captive. Tomalak rode as close as he was able, attempting to strike at the animal's flank, his sword unable to penetrate the animals thick, scaly hide.

"Of course," he mumbled dryly. It definitely could not be that easy! He was more than likely going to have to go for the thing's throat, chest or belly, a task that was most daunting indeed, surely impossible. The tail came flying through the air again, Tomalak caught off guard by his mount's panic, the animal unseating him and tossing him easily over its shoulder, the Romulan-now-knight falling to the ground. Quickly he got to his feet, taking barely a second to watch as his horse galloped away, his sights once again on the massive dragon that was now purely focused on Ael. This puny weakling of a knight was like all of the others' that had come before – pathetic! May as well make a meal of this tiny, insignificant girl that he sought to rescue, perhaps then the "brave one" would provide some sort of real challenge, even if only for a few minutes.

"Tomalak!" Ael's voice was raised and desperate, her hand rising to shield her face though she knew such an act would do little good in the moment. The dragon's lips curled back as it bared its blood-stained teeth, plumes of smoke emanating from its nostrils as it prepared to either roast her or eat her outright.

"Air and Fire; this absolutely cannot be happening," he said, using all of his strength to run to where she lie on the ground, the dragon's head looming ever closer. He might only have mere seconds to get to her, or perhaps this thing was merely toying with them both. The dragon's mouth opened wide, the inner portion of its mouth glowing hot, Tomalak's eyes widening in response to the sight. It could only mean that one thing was coming, and putting every last bit of effort into his running he surged towards her, praying to the Elements with nearly every step.

At last he was upon her; Tomalak throwing his body over Ael to protect her from harm, the shield in his left hand the only barrier between them and the dragon's fiery breath, which descended upon them only seconds later. The intense flame impacted the great steel barrier, Ael huddling close to Tomalak and crying out in fear while he pushed the shield up and against the overwhelming force that sought to destroy the both of them. The flame had a tremendous impact, so forceful that Tomalak momentarily wondered how he had managed to stay on his knees without toppling over backwards.

"You have to kill it," Ael yelled, her eyes widening at the sight of the golden red flame licking around the edges of the shield in Tomalak's hand.

"That is what I am attempting to do, believe me," he said. "Though at the present moment I am also attempting to keep you alive and in one piece."

"Have you tried flanking it?"

"That was the first thing that I tried. I was nearly bludgeoned to death by a rather large, spiked tail. It also complicates matters when this beast seems to have a hide made of impenetrable steel."

"Dragons have thick hides that are covered in even thicker scales," she yelled, breathing but a quick, faint sigh of relief when the dragon's flame extinguished. "Any chance of you getting your horse back? It would make a…good distraction." She really hated making such a suggestion, she loved horses after all!_ It's not a real horse…don't worry so much about it!_

"Unfortunately that animal is quite likely far from us. I am aware that I am supposed to be saving you from this thing, but perhaps we need to make a joint effort."

Ael swallowed hard. "Agreed," she said, attempting to speak without her tone wavering in fright. Silently she wondered how Tomalak could be so calm, until a small voice in the forefront of her mind told her otherwise. _He's probably scared witless, but being a Romulan means that he has too much stubborn pride to admit it._ "Give me your sword."

Tomalak eyed her dubiously. "I don't think…"

"I know it'll be heavy or cumbersome or whatever…"

"Try both of those things."

"But I can handle it," she finished. "Or would you rather I be like a Reman?" Tomalak tipped his head in mild confusion. "In other words: Would you rather I am the canon fodder in this case? The distraction?"

"Of course not," he snapped almost immediately. If this girl met her untimely end in this manner, and the general, both his superior and the girl's father, found out that he had allowed her to come to deadly harm because he couldn't think of a proper plan to keep her safe? That Tomalak had allowed the girl, his daughter to be nothing but an expendable person so that he would walk from the battle unscathed, while she was deemed worthless enough to die? Simply not an option.

"Then give me the damn sword," she repeated, screaming when Tomalak was forced to again block them both from yet another surge of violent flame. "You have a shield and a suit of armor; and you're quick and agile."

"Have you ever tried running in a suit of armor?"

"You're still quicker than I would be in his ridiculously long dress!" she snapped back. "Give me your sword, Tomalak. I'll try and hide it with my body while you run out and distract it away from what I'm doing. When you get it far enough away I'll try and go for the belly."

"And if it should see what you are trying to do? Not to mention if you are unable to wield that blade?"

"Then I'm dead. But better me than you!" The flame was again gone. "Now go!" she demanded, hiding the sword beneath her as best she could while Tomalak leapt away from her, his mind whirring with activity in response to her words from just seconds ago. Did she seriously put his life far above hers? There was scarcely time to think about it further before the dragon noticed the "knight," who was now quite a distance away from his "princess," a girl who was once again immobile on the ground.

"This was a foolish idea," he mumbled, reaching down for a stone to hurl at the dragon in order to secure its attention away from Ael. The creature appeared to be watching both him and her, Ael waiting for the right time in which to move and attempt a strike, as foolhardy as it was now beginning to seem. "There is no other way," he mumbled, summoning every ounce of courage in the moment as he threw the stone at the dragon, pegging the best directly in the snout. "Get away from her!" he yelled. "Eyes on this target!"

The dragon roared in anger, turning away from Ael and putting its full attention onto Tomalak instead. "Come on, Tomalak," she murmured to the ground. "Get his head turned well-away from me. If he sees me we are both seriously screwed." Her hand tightly gripped the hilt of the blade, her head lifting so that she could keep track of both Dragon and knight, the creatures head continuing to turn as Tomalak ran to the side, lobbing yet another stone to secure its attention away from her. Another burst of flame surged from the dragon's maw, Ael attempting to roll with the sword until she was close to her desired target, only…

"Oh for fucks sake!" she yelled in frustration, the sword indeed far too heavy for her to wield. "This seriously isn't funny!" The sword fell from her grasp, a small voice telling her to check her bodice for a possible dagger. "Convenient, Q," she mumbled, staring at the little item in her grip. What in the hell could this tiny thing even hope to accomplish? "It'll probably just piss it off…" Still, she had to try! Ael leapt for her target, the miniscule weapon succeeding in barely cutting the soft underbelly of the beast, the item truly succeeding in doing no more than "pissing it off."

"This was an incredibly stupid idea!" Tomalak said, running as quickly as he could towards Ael, who, at any moment now was surely to be cooked alive by the dragon's fiery breath. It didn't matter how many stones he threw or how much he yelled, the dragon's attention refused to wane from the girl who had spilled its ruby-colored blood.

"Tomalak!" Ael screamed, dropping her dagger and backing away, the dragon easily succeeding in backing her against a pile of boulders. "I think I pissed it off!"

"Hold on, Ael!" he yelled, doing all that he could to increase his speed, leaping for her and thrusting his shield up to block the flame that was surely inbound at any given moment. He landed beside her, holding her close while the dragon unleashed its fiery fury once again.

"I-I couldn't lift it. You were right," she sniffled. "I had a little dagger, but I could barely make more than a gash in the belly."

This was pointless! Nothing that they could do was going to do any sort of good in the moment. The only way out was sure to be…

A flash of light, blinding and cool was the next thing that the two of them felt, Ael and Tomalak appearing on the ground beside one another, Ael collapsing into his arms as she cried in relief. _Who cares if he sees me acting like a child_, she thought sourly. _I am one after all!_

"Well that was pitiful, barely exciting at all." Q stood before them, arms folded in boredom, perhaps mild irritation.

"Oh, it was plenty "_exciting_,"" Tomalak growled, doing his best to comfort the pitifully sobbing girl in his arms, even though comforting others' was generally not his strong suit.

"I suppose for you… But since a dragon was far too much of a challenge, perhaps something like this is far more your speed." Q spread his arms, the scenery around them changing, tall hedges appearing all around them in an intricate pattern.

"What foolishness is this?" Tomalak snapped, rising to his feet and carefully pulling Ael up beside him.

"The only thing you have to do, dear Romulan, is to navigate the maze before you. Once you find the exit, you're free."

"It surely isn't that simple."

"It should be easy enough for a Romulan, but do watch out for the Minotaur, he is a cranky one."

"A…what?"

Q grinned, a sickeningly vile smirk that instantly had Tomalak wishing that he had a disruptor handy, not that he would likely succeed in killing this…Q, but surely a weapon would be helpful against the monster that was surely lurking within the maze.

"You'll find out," he chuckled, and then he was gone.

"Ael, do you have any idea what a… Minotaur is?" Tomalak asked, closing his eyes and attempting to will her cries silent. Ael hesitated before answering, uncertain that she could seriously take much more stress in the moment. All she really felt like doing was staying curled up and crying in Tomalak's arms, even if he wasn't terribly certain how to comfort her properly. "I understand that this entire ordeal has you very frightened and uncertain, but if you know anything that can help us here, you must tell me."

Ael leaned away and wiped her eyes, taking a moment to gaze around her and sighed in relief when she saw nothing threatening in the immediate vicinity. "A Minotaur is a creature that is half man and half bull; he dwells at the center of the Cretan Labyrinth, which may be where we are now. I-I'm honestly not certain."

"How large is this creature? I would very much like to know what we are facing."

"Twice your size at least," she promised. "Very large and bulky, not to mention he generally carries around an axe that is probably as large as you are tall."

"Lovely," he said sourly, sarcastically.

It appeared that things had just gone from bad to a little bit worse.


End file.
